O     ^^===  CD 


POLITICAL  PERSECUTION 


ARMENIAN  PRISONERS  OF  THE  CAUCASUS 
[A  PAGE  OF  THE  TZAR'S  PERSECUTION] 

By 

E.  AKNOUNI 

Author  of'Vhe  Wounds  of  the  Caucasus,"  "On  to  Battle,"  Etc. 


1911 


NEW  YORK 


POLITICAL  PERSECUTION 


ARMENIAN  PRISONERS  OF  THE  CAUCASUS 
[A  PAGE  OF  THE  TZAR'S  PERSECUTION] 

By 

E.  AKNOUNI 

Author  oflicUhe  Wounds  of  Cat  Caucasus,"  "On  to  Battle,"  Etc. 


1911  NEW  YORK 


Translated  from  the  Author's  Manuscript 
by  A.  M.  and  H.  W. 


AN  APPEAL 

To  the  Intellectuals  of  America 


With  my  weak  pen,  and  unflourished  words,  I  appeal  to 
you,  intellectuals  and  writers  of  the  Great  Republic — to  your 
tongue,  to  your  pen,  and  especially  to  your  heart. 

Do  not  regard  as  boldness  this  step  of  an  Armenian  writer 
unknown  to  you.  It  is  not  my  modest  past,  or  my  weak  pen,  that 
entitles  me  to  address  you  publicly,  but  the  fact  that  I  belong  to 
a  persecuted  nation,  perhaps,  alas,  the  first  among  the  human 
victims  of  history, — a  nation,  small  in  numbers,  but  great  in 
suffering;  insignificant  in  its  political  standing,  but  worthy  of  re- 
spect for  the  victims  it  offered  to  the  altar  of  civilization  and 
freedom. 

It  is  the  grief  and  the  sorrow  of  the  wound-covered  and 
persecuted  Armenian  people  that  prompts  me,  as  well  as  the 
whole  class  of  Armenian  intellectuals  of  to-day,  whose  modest 
soldier  I  am,  to  speak, — grief  and  sorrow  that  made  even  the 
stones  cry,  and  that  in  the  days  of  unsuppressed  rage  roused  the 
civilized  world  from  Rome  to  London,  from  Paris  to  New  York, 
and  moved  even  those  who  have  breast,  but  no  heart;  head, 
but  no  mind. 

Raise  your  voices,  you  who  have  hearts  and  minds,  and  as 
citizens  of  a  free  fatherland  are  duty  bound  to  voice  your  protest 
in  behalf  of  "innocent  convicts,"  who,  crushed  behind  prison 
doors,  are  anxiously  awaiting  for  signs  of  sympathy,  for  a  just 
protest  in  the  name  of  their  ever-tortured  people. 

I  was  often  told,  both  in  Europe  and  this  country,  that  it 
was  useless  to  appeal  to  America,  that  the  hope  of  the  perse- 
cuted was  in  vain.  It  was  reiterated  to  me  again  and  again : 
"America  is  not  the  land  of  succor,  but  of  money.  The  great 
American  press  is  not  the  soldier  of  justice  and  ideal,  but  it 
serves  Mammon,  and  through  Mammon,  again  to  Mammon." 

You  know  better  than  I  how  true  this  sad  accusation  is ! 
But  I,  who  traveled  this  Republic  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
from  city  to  city,  whatever  I  saw  and  observed  keeps  me  in  my 
conviction  that  America  is  not  merely  "the  land  of  factories," 
but  that  it  is  also  the  land  of  great  ideals. 


Yes,  a  land  where  the  memory  of  Washington  and  Lincoln 
is  held  so  sacred;  where  monuments  of  revolution,  independence 
and  liberty  rear  themselves  side  by  side  with  factory  chimneys; 
where  universities  and  libraries  are  erected  by  the  side  of  big 
stores  and  pleasant  parks;  where  the  democratic  spirit  demolished 
the  restraining  prejudices  of  the  Old  World;  and  where,  in  the 
harbor  of  its  Metropolis,  burns  every  night  the  torch  of  universal 
Liberty, — such  a  land  must  not  and  can  not  desert  the  Great 
Ideal. 

The  nations  of  the  East  do  not  ask  you  for  "intervention." 
No,  it  is  not  necessary  to  mix  up  with  the  "family  quarrels"  of 
other  nations.  But  your  Great  Citizen,  if  he  was  risen  from  his 
grave  could  not  pass  by  a  dying  sufferer  without  kneeling  by  his 
side;  could  not  witness  without  just  anger  the  cruelty  of  an 
executioner  who  flogs  the  bleeding  victim. 

No  intervention,  but  protest,  when  a  whole  nation  or  peo- 
ple is  slaughtered;  protest  in  the  name  of  man,  whose  worship 
is  so  great  with  you;  protest  in  the  name  of  liberty  for  which 
you  gave  so  much  of  your  blood  in  the  days  of  the  Great  Battle; 
protest  in  the  name  of  human  community,  without  distinction  of 
race  or  religion,  the  pet  idea  of  your  Wonderful  Fatherland. 

I  know,  I  feel,  you  are  very  far  from  the  Grief-valley  of 
historic  Ararat,  from  the  place  of  tyrannical  rule,  where  so  domi- 
nant are  the  knout,  the  yataghan,  and  the  prison.  But  now, 
with  my  ineffective  lines,  I  will  essay  to  bring  before  you  the 
pale  image  of  horrible  tragedy,  one  page  only,  one  small  page  of 
the  deep  horrors,  which  are  perpetrated  behind  Closed  Doors, 
whence  for  years  ring  the  screams  of  prisoners,  and  with  them 
the  wrath  and  the  protest  of  all  the  persecuted. 

Listen  to  that  voice,  hear  that  wrathful  scream ;  hear  and 
answer  what  your  mind,  what  your  heart,  suggests. 

Put  some  of  your  heart  in  your  voice,  in  your  protest,  in 
your  pen,  and  strike  with  thunder. 

Use  your  pens,  writers  of  all  nations ! 
Use  your  mouths,  orators  of  all  lands ! 

E.  AKNOUNI. 

April,  1911, 

New  York- 


THE  WORLD  OF  CHAINS. 


Searching  by  night ! 

Imprisonment  by  day! 

This  has  been  the  "political  life"  in  the  Caucasus  since 
1908,  where,  by  the  regulation  of  Tzarism,  the  Armenian 
people  are  pronounced  dangerous,  and  out  of  the  pale  of  law's 
protection. 

Prison,  searching  and  exile  have  been  of  frequent  occur- 
rence in  the  domains,  where  the  knout  of  slav  despotism  is 
dominant,  but  what  has  been  taking  place  in  the  last  few 
years,  even  after  the  Octoberian  Manifesto  of  the  Tzar,  is 
exceptionally  novel. 

What  a  bitter  irony ! 

While  in  St.  Petersburg  speeches  flow  from  the  worthy 
and  unworthy  mouths  of  the  members  of  the  Duma  in  the 
name  of  political  liberty  and  security,  in  Poland,  Finland, 
and  the  Caucasus  tongues  are  tied  by  the  orders  of  the  police, 
pens  are  crushed  in  the  office  of  the  censor,  and  all  good  citi- 
zens, physicians,  lawyers,  teachers,  officers,  farmers,  are  led 
to  prisons — political  grave-yards,  to  atone  for  sins  which  they 
have  not  committed,  to  suffer  tortures  which  they  do  not 
deserve. 

And  sitting  behind  closed  doors  hundreds  of  prisoners, 
subjected  to  many  tortures  and  deprivations,  are  wondering 
and  asking  themselves : 

"What  is  our  sin?" 

And  the  unworthy  officer  of  the  Russian  Court,  called 
Legine,  who  is  actuated  more  by  caprice  than  justice,  and  who 
takes  his  orders  from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  answers 
them  brutally: 

"Your  sin  is  that  you  are  Armenians.  You  are  responsible 
for  everything  that  occurs  in  the  Armenian  life.  It  is  neces- 
sary for  us  to  bury  the  roaring  fire  under  ashes,  to  uproot 
revolutionary  movement,  to  exterminate  political  parties,  and 
engulf  life  and  energy.  Do  you  want  proof?  Our  caprice  is 
the  proof.  Do  you  want  documentary  evidence?  The  docu- 
mentary evidence  is  the  police  report. 


6 

And  Stolypin,  the  president  of  the  unconstitutional  min- 
istry, a  policeman,  and  not  a  statesman,  detective,  but  not  a 
man  of  law,  is  instructing  with  word  or  consent : 

"Crush,  persecute." 

And  they  are  crushing! 

And  they  are  persecuting! 


It  is  night. 

As  soon  as  the  lamps  burn  in  the  streets  which  are  filled 
with  soldiers,  the  terrorized  "subjects,"  rich  and  poor,  run 
home  like  frightened  birds  from  an  imminent,  threatening  tem- 
pest. 

Since  1906  when  the  black  terror  was  organized  in  Rus- 
sia, by  the  efforts  of  the  police,  when  the  criminal-minded  gov- 
ernment armed  the  dark  element,  the  mob,  in  order  to  cover 
the  awakening  land  with  the  veil  of  terror,  then  nobody  could 
feel  safe  in  the  night.  Every  man  was  hastening  home  to  be 
locked  behind  double-bolted  doors,  and  latticed  windows. 

That  is  the  signal  of  political  insecurity. 

The  bell  rang. 

Everybody  is  shuddering  inside  the  house.  The  bell  at 
a  late  hour!  That  is  a  sign  of  misfortune.  And  so  it  is. 
"Open  the  door,"  yell  the  gendarmes  commanding,  threaten- 
ing. 

The  doors  are  opened,  and  in  rush  officers,  fifteen  or 
twenty,  the  Chief  of  Police,  his  assistants,  the  prosecutor, 
spies  in  multifarous  uniforms,  several  "witnesses"  gathered 
from  the  street,  drunken  and  vulgar,  to  identify  papers  that 
do  not  exist,  and  to  sign  records  which  they  cannot  read. 

This  is  the  police  tactics  practiced  in  the  land  of  prisons. 

The  order  is  given,  and  lo!  the  doors  are  closed.  The 
head  of  the  family  is  put  under  arrest,  and  the  searching  be- 
gun and  carried  on  in  all  the  rooms,  in  corners  from  the 
kitchen  to  the  sleeping  room. 

"My  wife  is  in  bed,  permit  her  to  dress  before  you  en- 
ter," observes  the  victim,  humbly. 

"We  have  no  time !"  roar  the  police  ironically. 

And  the  searchers  rush  into  the  bedroom  of  the  terrified 


Z 

woman,  and  overhaul  everything  with  the  curiosity  of  scoun- 
drels and  obscene  jestures. 

Here  is  the  whole  proceeding.  Huge  axes  are  produced 
and  the  drunken  people,  dressed  in  the  police  uniforms,  the 
poor  victims  of  demoralizing  officialdom,  are  beginning  the 
work  of  destruction.  The  axes  dart  toward  the  ceilings,  to- 
ward the  wardrobes,  toward  the  floors,  wherever  a  hiding 
place  is  imagined  to  be.  They  smash  the  doors,  tear  up  the 
floors,  open  the  walls  and  spread  upon  the  floor  the  dresses  of 
the  women  with  obscene  remarks. 

The  whole  night  performing  that  act  of  "legal"  ruin, 
rest  at  morn,  tired  and  proud,  and  collecting  all  the  books 
beginning  from  the  Bible  to  the  "Cookbook",  all  the  letters, 
love  letters  or  business  letters,  even  the  papers  in  which  not  a 
word  is  written,  the  children's  exercise  book,  and  new  shaped 
knives,  suspicious  "machines,"  even  the  boiler  for  sweets,  go 
out  of  the  house  taking  with  them  the  head  of  the  family, 
who  with  tearful  eyes  murmurs  to  his  children:  "Don't  be 
frightened,  I  will  soon  be  back." 

And  behind  him  ruin,  tears,  mourning. 

That  is  the  searching. 


They  are  in  the  street. 

The  prisoner,  surrounded  with  the  dreadful  soldiers,  does 
not  know  where  and  why  he  is  taken. 

"Where  are  you  taking  me?"  he  inquires. 

"To  the  Chief  of  Police,"  answer  the  officers  of  law  in- 
differently and  calmly. 

And  they  are  taking  him  to  the  Chief  of  Police,  and  then, 
in  a  closed  carriage  to  an  unknown  office.  Everything  is  un- 
known and  obscure.  The  "citizen"  is  moving  like  a  shadow 
without  resistance,  speechless  and  struck  with  terror. 

Behold  an  office.  What  a  sight !  Already  many  prisoners, 
some  known  to  each  other,  some  strangers,  all  waiting  dispo- 
sition and  instructions.  The  doors  open,  and  the  order  is 
given.  Then  begins  a  new  search,  which  is  called  the  "personal 
search."  They  search  the  pockets  of  the  prisoner,  the  heels 
of  his  shoes,  his  hats  and  even  his  beard. 

The  "personal  search,"  also,  is  finished.     Now  he  must 


8 

be  taken  away.  But  where  ?  To  which  prison  ?  That  is  known 
only  to  the  police. 

The  exodus  begins.  The  exodus  is  different  for  different 
men.  Sometimes,  for  the  purpose  of  terrorizing  the  people, 
the  prisoners  are  conducted  in  groups  in  the  main  streets  of 
the  city,  surrounded  by  Cossacks  and  mounted  officers.  The 
mob  retreats  from  the  right  and  from  the  left.  Who  dares 
approach  or  stand  by?  The  omnipotent  lance  is  ready  to  be 
thrust  into  the  loins  or  the  legs  of  such  a  bold  person.  Often 
they  are  taken  by  night,  secretly,  from  their  parents  and 
friends,  in  closed  wagons,  through  byways.  Nobody  knows 
where  they  are  taken,  how  they  are  taken,  or  with  whom  they 
are  taken.  A  week  passes,  then  a  second,  friends  and  relatives 
are  exhausted  from  waiting  at  the  door  of  the  prefect  in  the 
hope  of  getting  some  intelligence  from  the  victims.  Are  the 
prisoners  dead  or  alive  ?  The  same  answer  from  all  lips :  "It 
is  not  known." 

And  quite  often  the  prisoners  are  led  from  station  to 
station,  from  prison  to  prison,  even  from  city  to  city,  bare- 
footed, under  the  rain  and  snow,  subjected  to  grave  dangers. 
One  day  two  prisoners  were  led  through  a  muddy  street  in 
Tiflis.  One  a  young  Armenian  writer,  the  other  a  gray-haired 
old  man,  a  rich  land  owner.  It  was  a  rainy  day,  cold  and 
damp;  the  way  was  long  and  tiresome.  The  old  man,  unac- 
customed to  hardship,  was  exhausted  and  tottering,  unable 
to  walk. 

The  young  prisoner  observed  the  condition  of  his  aged 
companion  and  saw  that  he  was  nearly  exhausted.  So  he  said 
to  the  soldiers : 

"Brothers,  I  can  walk  because  I  am  strong,  but  pity  this 
old  man  and  allow  him  to  ride  in  a  carriage.  He  is  exhausted. 
He,  too,  is  a  man.     Pity  his  old  age." 

"Walk,  dog,"  roared  the  soldier  and  raising  the  butt  of 
his  gun,  "walk  and  hold  your  tongue." 

And  they  walked. 


Behold,  also,  the  prison! 

With  an  august  calmness  is  opened  the  famous  castle,  by 
the  hand  of  its  unavoidable  and  eternal  guardian,  and  after  a 


minute  a  new  one  is  added  to  the  "living  dead!"  After  that 
moment  he  is  no  more  a  citizen  or  a  man,  but  a  number  who 
will  move  when  they  order  him,  will  stand  up  when  they 
command,  entitled  to  one  right  only — the  right  of  silence.  From 
the  surrounding  iron  windows  which  look  on  the  inner  court 
hundreds  of  eyes  are  watching  the  new  comer — the  eyes  of 
the  political  hero  who  faced  death  for  liberty,  the  eyes  of  the 
criminal  who,  perhaps,  had  killed  his  mother,  the  eyes  of  the 
thief,  the  incendiary,  the  drunkard,  because  in  that  "world" 
there  is  everything,  greatness  and  meanness,  martyrs  and  mur- 
derers. 

They  registered  his  name  and  led  him  inside. 

He  is  already  behind  the  closed  doors.  He  must  sit  there 
and  wait.  Has  he  bread  ?  Has  he  clothes  ?  Has  he  any  place 
to  rest  his  head?  Are  they  considering  his  case?  Is  he  sub- 
jected to  tortures  or  to  cross-examination?  Is  he  dead  or 
alive  ?    Nobody  knows. 

The  doors  are  closed. 


IO 


SOME  HISTORICAL  FACTS. 


The  "political"  imprisonment  of  the  Armenians  in  the 
Caucasus  has  a  history  of  fifty  years  behind  it. 

The  first  important  political  prisoner  was  the  famous  Ar- 
menian publicist  and  poet,  Michael  Nalbandian,  in  1863.  He 
had  committed  the  crime  of  writing  some  soul-inspiring  poems 
which  were  dedicated  to  liberty  and  national  regeneration,  and 
while  in  London,  of  cultivating  friendship  with  Gerzen,  the 
illustrious  Russian  leader.  Under  the  infernal  conditions  of 
the  prison  the  Armenian  prisoner  became  consumptive,  and 
when  the  prison  authorities  saw  that  death  was  inevitable — the 
desire  of  the  police — set  him  free,  that  after  having  "lived" 
in  prison,  he  might  die  in  "liberty." 

And  after  a  few  months  Nalbandian  died,  faithful  to  his 
famous  words : 

"I  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death ; 
Yea,  even  upon  the  gallows  tree ; 
With   my   last   gasp,    with    dying   breath, 
I'll  shout  thy  name,  O  Liberty !" 

Almost  fifteen  years  elapsed  more  or  less  quiet. 

From  beyond  the  Turkish  frontier  reached  the  ears  of 
the  Armenians  in  the  Caucasus  the  shocking  news  of  the  crime. 
The  cry  of  agony  of  the  Armenian  people,  languishing  under 
the  shameful  yoke  of  Hamid,  and  the  smell  of  Wood  reached 
the  plains  of  Ararat  notwithstanding  the  unsurmountable  ob- 
stacles. It  was  during  that  time,  1877,  that  Alexander  II 
declared  war  against  Turkey  in  the  name  of  Eastern  Chris- 
tianity. But  that  war  did  not  justify  the  hopes  of  the  Chris- 
tians in  Asia  Minor;  and  when  the  Russian  soldiers,  after  the 
Congress  of  Berlin,  evacuated  the  Turkish  soil,  Hamid  decided, 
and  intrigued,  to  avenge  his  defeat  on  the  Christian  Armenians. 
The  yataghan  shone.  Armenia  was  transformed  into  a  sea 
of  sorrow  and  blood. 

That  bloody  political  catastrophe  shocked  and  moved  the 
Armenians  in  the  Caucasus.  Prompted  by  the  sentiment  of 
fraternal  assistance,  they  began  to  send  money  to  the  victims, 
arms  to  the  defenseless,  and  men  for  help.  But  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Tzar,  which  had  declared  war  in  the  name  of 


II 

Christianity,  suddenly  changed  its  attitude  toward  the  Chris- 
tian Armenians  in  Turkey,  and  opposed  every  effort  to  help 
them.  It  not  only  failed  to  help  the  persecuted  Armenians  in 
the  dark  days  of  massacre  and  terror,  but  began  to  punish 
the  Caucasus  Armenians,  who  desired  to  stretch  a  helping  hand 
to  their  suffering  compatriots. 


The  blow  was  dealt  in  1884. 

In  Erivan,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  whole  city,  houses 
were  searched  in  groups.  That  slumberous  city  of  the  Orient 
was  upset  entirely.  For  several  weeks,  especially  the  nights, 
many  residences  of  the  citizens  became  a  scene  of  terror.  All 
classes  of  the  Armenian  population  were  affected,  and  law- 
yers, physicians,  merchants  were  arrested,  men  and  women. 
After  "expiating  their  sins  in  the  prisons"  they  were  banished 
to  remote  parts  of  Russia,  where  they  died  without  seeing 
their  country.1 

That  was  the  first  arrest  in  groups. 

The  next  scene  is  removed  to  Tiflis.  Imagining  a  "polit- 
ical bond"  between  the  Armenians  of  Erivan  and  Tiflis  in 
undertaking  to  help  the  Armenians  in  Turkey,  the  police  and 
the  gendarmerie  searched  minutely  the  residence  of  Grigor 
Arzrouni,  the  famous  Armenian  publicist,  and  the  founder  of 
Mschak,  the  Armenian  daily  paper  in  Russia.  The  police  search 
lasted  three  days.  All  his  papers  were  sealed  and  taken  to 
court.  The  same  fate  fell  to  Raffi,  the  illustrious  Armenian 
novelist,  and  one  of  the  editors  of  Mschak.  The  insensate 
police  force  seized  the  manuscripts  of  his  novels  as  "documents 
to  prove"  his  political  dangerousness.     ' 

That  was  a  menacing  sign. 

After  searching  the  effects  of  these  two  popular  and  highly 
respected  journalists,  the  police  force  began,  unchecked,  to 
do  the  same  thing  in  the  towns,  and  from  that  date  on  the 
officers  of  safety  adopted  another  office,  the  office  of  search- 
ing, which  became  the  cause  of  an  ever  increasing  terror  among 
the  patriarchal  population. 


1  Among  those  were  Vartanian,  a  notary ;  Egiazarian,  a  lawyer ;  Mrs. 
Matakian,  principal  of  the  Girls'  School;  Matakian,an  officer  ;Ter-Zakarian, 
an  officer ;  Mherian,  an  agent ;  Chalalian,  an  attorney ;  Tigranian,  a  phy- 
sician. 


12 

The  severity  was  increased  tenfold  in  1890. 

When  the  news  from  Turkish  Armenia  became  extremely 
horrible  and  unendurable,  a  band  of  young  Armenians,  stu- 
dents, teachers,  artisans  and  peasants,  prompted  by  the  desire 
of  an  immediate  assistance,  organized  and  armed  themselves  in 
order  to  go  to  Turkey  and  protect  peaceful  people  against  the 
Kurd  and  Hamidian  murderers.  But  before  crossing  the 
frontier  they  were  surrounded  by  the  Russian  soldiers,  and 
fifty  of  them  arrested.  They  were  chained  and  thrown  into  a 
dungeon  under  the  most  rigorous  regulations.  Then  they  were 
tried  as  "political  agitators  and  as  demanding  freedom  for  the 
Armenians."  That  band  is  known  as  the  band  of  Gougounian, 
by  the  name  of  the  leader,  Mr.  Gougounian,  a  student  at  the 
University  of  St.  Petersburg.  Some  of  the  prisoners  died  be- 
fore the  conclusion  of  their  trial,  and  the  rest  were  sentenced 
to  hard  labor  for  twenty  years  in  Siberia.  Some  of  the  young 
men  died  before  they  arrived  in  Siberia,  and  the  rest  were 
driven  to  that  bleak  land  to  condone  their  sin  in  chains  and  in 
caves — the  sin  of  desiring  to  sacrifice  their  lives  for  their 
brothers. 

Gradually  the  severity  of  the  police  force  increased,  not 
only  against  those  who  desired  to  help  their  "living  brothers," 
but  against  those,  also,  who  wished  to  bury  their  "dead  broth- 
ers" with  due  honor.    Even  burial  became  a  political  crime. 

We  had  the  proof  of  it  in  1892. 

Grigor  Arzrouni  died.  The  Armenians  of  the  Caucasus, 
sad-hearted  and  affected,  desired  to  show  their  appreciation 
of  the  work  of  this  most  popular  Armenian  publicist.  There 
was  a  great  commotion  and  preparation  for  funeral  services. 
From  all  over  the  world  Armenians  sent  delegates  and  dele- 
gations, four  hundred  and  eighty  floral  tributes  and  thousands 
of  cables  and  telegrams.  There  was  requiem  and  mourning 
everywhere. 

It  was  December  27th.  A  human  ocean  was  heaving  in 
the  Kolovinski  street  of  Tiflis.  Sixty  thousand  people  were 
following  the  coffin,  sad  and  with  low  heads.  The  popular 
mourning  expressed  itself  in  a  manifestation  of  popular  respect. 
The  people  were  silent  and  respectful.  .  .  .  Then  suddenly  the 
mounted  police  force  and  the  infantry  appeared  and  ordered : 


13 

"Turn  back,  and  go  through  the  other  street,  you  cannot  use 
this  street."  The  mourners  explained  to  the  police  that  they 
desired  to  pass  by  the  family  house  of  the  deceased,  and  as  a 
last  respect  offer  prayers  for  his  soul.  They  asked  and  ex- 
plained, but  in  vain,  the  police  stood  unmoved.  Then  the 
patient  people  pushed  forward,  the  soldiers  drew  their  swords. 
The  officiating  Armenian  bishop  fainted  from  that  unexpected 
demonstration.  .  .  .  But  the  mourners  penetrated  the 
chain  of  the  police  and  soldiers,  and  advanced  to  the  cemetery, 
and  the  body  of  the  great  publicist  was  laid  to  rest.     .     .     . 

But  the  despotic  government  did  not  respect  this  fresh 
grave,  and  the  same  night  arrests  and  searching  started  from 
one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other.  Terror  was  added  to  sadness. 
The  delegates  departed  immediately  to  avoid  imprisonment. 
And  the  same  night  dozens  of  writers,  professors,  officers,  edi- 
tors, painters,  specialists,  were  driven  to  prison  as  the  authors 
of  demonstration  against  the  government,  and  as  dangerous 
agitators. 

It  is  incredible,  but  it  is  a  fact. 


Let  us  also  consider  the  year  1895,  which  was  the  carnival 
of  prisons  and  cruelties. 

Again  the  news  from  Armenia  assumed  a  gloomy  aspect. 

Under  the  blows  of  revolution,  and  under  the  European 
pressure  the  Nero  of  Yildiz  agreed  to  the  reforms  called  "the 
Scheme  of  May,"  but  just  then,  when  the  agents  of  the  assas- 
sin autocrat  went,  under  the  command  of  Shakir  Pasha,  to 
Armenia  to  execute  the  orders  of  "reform,"  when  the  Bishop 
of  Erzroom,  encouraged  by  the  promises  of  the  English  Min- 
istry, was  announcing  the  birth  of  "liberty  in  Armenia,  under 
the  bond  of  slavery,"  then  rang  the  alarm  of  wholesale  mas- 
sacre. Sultan  Hamid  became  reckless  more  than  ever.  His 
bloody  hands  were  indirectly  strengthened  by  the  Tzar's  Min- 
ister for  Foreign  Affairs,  Lobanoff,  who  wished  "Armenia 
without  Armenians."  The  yataghan  was  drawn  with  an  un- 
precedented ferocity.  .  .  .  And  when  these  massacres 
shocked  the  whole  civilized  world,  the  government  of  the  Tzar 
hastened  to  close  the  frontiers  against  the  Armenian  refugees, 
and  censored  the  whole  Russian  press  to  prevent  the  Russian 
Armenians  from  hearing  the  death  agony  of  slaughtered  peo- 
ple, and  from  attempts  of  help  or  protest. 


14 

The  severity  was  boundless.  After  a  while  the  Armenian 
press  not  only  had  no  right  to  protest  against  the  monstrous 
crime,  but  even  to  print  the  words  "Armenia,"  or  "Turkish 
Armenia."  A  huge  wall  was  erected  between  the  Armenian 
compatriots  of  the  two  empires.  Not  a  relief  fund.  Not  a 
weapon.  Not  a  sympathetic  action.  But  wholesale  imprison- 
ments in  Tiflis,  Baku,  Erivan,  Shoushi,  Ganzak.  The  impris- 
onments spread  to  the  villages  to  silence  the  protests  of  the 
revolutionaries.  All  the  Armenian  leaders  of  importance  and 
influence  were  put  under  arrest,  numbering  more  than  a  hun- 
dred. Many  of  them  were  banished  to  the  remote  districts 
of  Russia.  The  rest  fled  the  country.  That  was  a  black  period 
of  persecution  and  tyranny  in  the  political  annals  of  the  Cau- 
casus.2 

This  lasted  until  1896,  when  the  despotism  of  St.  Peters- 
burg realized  with  pleasure  and  triumph  that  the  Armenian 
nation  was  wounded  so  seriously  that  it  could  not  survive. 

An  American  missionary,  who  had  lived  in  Van  for  a  long 
time,  told  once:  "When  we  saw  the  heaped  corpses,  the  sea 
of  blood,  the  unutterable  horror,  the  mad  flight,  we  thought 
the  Armenian  people  was  no  more!" 

1895-96  was  the  grave  of  Armenia.  And  the  "spade  of 
the  Tzar"  stood  foremost. 

What  a  black  honor ! 


:  Among  the  arrested  were  22  pedagogists,  7  authors,  10  students,  8 
government  officials,  20  commissioners,  4  clergymen,  21  artisans,  8  mer- 
chants, 12  professionals. 


•5 

THE  PRISONERS  OF  1908. 


The  new  days  made  us  forget  the  old. 

The  former  imprisonments  dwindle  into  insignificance  as 
compared  with  the  policy  initiated  in  1908.  The  wholesale, 
perpetual  and  universal  arrests,  which  were  inaugurated  in 
1 907- 1 908  were  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  Caucasus  Ar- 
menians, and,  perhaps,  of  the  Russians.  There  has  been  forc- 
ible arrests  among  the  Russians,  Poles,  Jews,  Finns,  aston- 
ishing arrests,  but  it  was  never  seen,  even  under  Tzarism,  that 
a  whole  nation,  an  entire  people,  with  warring  classes  should 
be  accused  as  revolutionary,  dangerous,  and  should  be  tried  as 
such  on  the  bench  of  criminals. 

But  it  was  so.  The  arrests  of  1908  did  not  respect  any 
class.  People  were  searched  indiscriminately,  the  office  of  the 
Armenian  Catholicos  the  head  of  the  whole  Armenian  Church ; 
the  author  who  preached  new  life  and  new  thought;  the  most 
ignorant  peasant  who  cannot  even  read;  the  millionaire  who 
enjoys  life;  the  laborer  who  toils;  the  merchant  who  does 
not  recognize  any  world  outside  his  store;  the  professor 
whose  activities  are  confined  only  to  the  classroom ;  the  clergy- 
men who  heartily  pray  for  the  permanence  of  thrones ;  the 
student  who  is  the  ensign  bearer  of  revolution ;  the  physician 
and  the  lawyer  who  have  free  professions;  the  mayor  and 
the  official  who  are  the  servants  of  the  government;  men  and 
women,  the  rich  and  the  poor;  the  countryman  and  the  immi- 
grant, the  civilian  and  the  farmer;  in  short,  the  whole  Trans- 
Caucasus  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  the  Armenian  peo- 
ple living  there,  every  man,  every  class. 

That  is  the  characteristic  line  in  this  "adventure." 

The  first  sign  was  given  in  December,  1908,  in  Tiflis,  and 
in  the  beginning  of  1909  reached  its  highest  point.  The  num- 
ber of  people  searched  was  nearly  a  thousand.  Five  hundred 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the  Caucasus  and  in  other 
prisons. 

Among  the  prisoners  were  included  eight  authors,  twenty- 
two  Armenian  physicians,  lawyers  and  specialists,  twenty-four 
professors  and  teachers,  thirty-four  officials  and  attendants. 


i6 

forty-five  merchants,  seventy  artisans,  and  peasants,  laborers, 
clergymen,  women  and  even  students. 

More  than  three  thousand  people  were  under  suspicion. 
Those  under  suspicion — thanks  to  the  fact  that  Russian  officials 
sell  their  secrets — take  refuge  not  only  in  Europe  but,  imagine, 
even  in  Turkey  and  Persia,  the  despotic  countries  of  yesterday. 
Doubtless,  the  numerous  prisons  of  the  Caucasus,  with  their 
hundreds  of  cells,  would  not  be  able  to  contain  those  thousands 
of  "guests." 


The  distressing  part  of  the  arrests  was  not  their  quantity 
but  their  quality.  From  the  viewpoint  of  right  and  law  the 
whole  business  is  corrupted  and  even  based  on  false  data. 

Why?  For  the  simple  reason  that  those  arrests  are  not 
the  result  of  legal  searches  and  visible  proofs,  but  that  both 
the  searchings  and  the  arrests  are  formerly  decided  and  sug- 
gested by  the  central  government  for  political  purposes. 

When  in  St.  Petersburg  the  central  government  decided 
for  definite  political  purposes  to  persecute  the  Armenians  of 
the  Caucasus,  it  simultaneously  sent  orders  to  the  Caucasus  to 
unearth  an  Armenian  plot,  and  to  begin  the  attack.  In  the 
Caucasus,  as  well  as  everywhere,  there  still  exists  proudly  the 
type  of  Napoleon's  Police  Minister,  "who  always  carries  in 
his  pocket  a  scheme  of  any  conspiracy."  And  those  ever  ready 
agents,  police,  soldiers,  prosecuting  judges,  who  understand 
well  the  signals  of  the  central  government,  as  well  as  each 
other,  came  together  and  planned  and  began.  The  people, 
two  months  and  two  years  ago  recognized  as  peaceful,  loyal 
and  law-abiding,  were  declared  anti-royalists,  revolutionists, 
and  fomentors  for  Armenian  independence.  And  the  blows 
were  showered  right  and  left. 

We  have  already  described  the  terrifying  picture  of 
searchings.  It  was  not  sufficient,  however,  to  search  and  in- 
timidate; it  was  necessary,  also,  to  save  the  honor  of  the  gov- 
ernment by  "manipulating  some  proof,"  and  the  officer  of  the 
court  himself  manipulates  those  proofs  and  gives  them  to  spy 
agents  for  realization. 


i7 

Some  examples: 

Searching  had  started  in  Erivan.  On  an  ill-omened  night 
the  soldiers  were  surrounding  one  of  the  houses.  The  owner 
of  the  house,  innocent  and  ignorant,  asked :  "But  what  is  my 
crime  ?"  And  behold,  the  police  found  in  the  basement  a  very 
dangerous  leaflet  as  an  accusing  proof.  After  many,  many 
bitter  days  only,  a  very  "dangerous  leaflet"  was  thrown  into 
the  basement  by  the  police  chief. 

Another  night  the  police  entered  into  the  modest  house 
of  a  man  named  Kalousdian.  They  pulled  him  out  of  his 
bed  and  punished  him  with  a  knout,  and  demanded :  "Where 
is  the  box,  show  it.  Where  did  you  hide  it?"  "What  box?" 
murmered  the  innocent  victim ;  "spare  me,  I  have  not  seen  any 
box."  Only  after  several  weeks  it  was  found  that  the  whole 
proceeding  was  the  result  of  a  criminal  misunderstanding. 
The  spy  informed  the  detectives  that  there  was  a  dynamite 
box  at  Kalousdian's  house.  The  police  rushed  and  arrested 
Kalousdian,  and  then  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  not  the 
one  they  were  looking  for. 

Another  event,  again  in  Tiflis,  the  capital  of  the  Cau- 
casus. A  sudden  order  was  given  to  search  the  house  of  the 
poet  Isahakian.  And  what!  They  find  in  the  court  great 
quantities  of  cartidges,  then  his  guilt  is  certain.  But  this  time 
the  author  of  the  crime  had  performed  his  work  very  poorly. 
The  plot  was  uncovered.  The  whole  of  Tiflis  heard  it,  but 
was  not  astonished.     Is  that  not  usual? 

Proofs  of  that  sort  are  numerous. 


On  account  of  this  wicked  and  criminal  "policy"  there 
was  confusion,  which  was  and  which  will  remain  the  eternal 
condemnation  of  the  Russian  Courts.  It  is  unprecedented  in 
the  annals  of  trials.  Innocent  ones  are  arrested  instead  of  the 
accused.  One  suffers  for  the  other.  The  chief  of  the  de- 
tectives plans  to  arrest  certain  Armenians.  They  cannot  find 
them,  then  Legine  causes  the  arrest  of  altogether  innocent 
men  who  accidentally  have  the  name  or  the  patronym  of  the 
suspect. 


i8 

Let  the  proofs  speak. 

i.  The  police  were  looking  for  a  revolutionist  whose 
pseudonymn  was  "Prince,"  and  then  one  day  Prince  Arghou- 
tian  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Erivan  because,  as  can  be 
seen,  he  bore  the  title  of  Prince.  The  man  protested,  but  in 
vain.  Several  months  later  it  became  known  that  the  "Prince" 
who  was  sought  was  out  of  the  Caucasus,  and  was  known  in 
Van  as  a  political  leader.  The  "Prince,"  who  was  in  Van, 
regards  it  a  moral  duty  to  inform  the  investigating  judge, 
through  the  Russian  Consul,  that  he  is  in  Turkey  and  that 
it  is  unjust  to  arrest  someone  else,  but  Legine  persists  in  his 
error  and  Prince  Arghoutian  has  been  suffering  in  prison  for 
two  years — and  who  knows  how  long  yet! 

2.  Another  day  they  arrested  Malkasian,  a  teacher  of 
the  Nersessian  School.  Not  only  was  he  not  a  revolutionist, 
but  an  opponent  of  revolutionary  methods.  But  he  was  kept 
in  prison  for  several  months  because  his  Christian  name  bore 
resemblance  to  that  of  a  suspected  man  who  was  sought  by 
the  police.  What  is  the  difference,  if  it  be  this  man  or  that  man? 

3.  A  man  named  Kevork  Ordoyan  was  sought  in  Tiflis. 
Not  being  able  to  find  him,  the  police  arrested  another  Kevork. 
Kevork  Arakelian.  The  relatives  of  the  former  testified  that 
Kevork  Ordoyan  had  been  killed  in  Persia,  and  that  they  held 
his  death  certificate,  signed  by  the  Persian  legation.  But  in 
vain.  The  authorities  desired  to  imprison  an  Armenian,  whose 
name  was  Kevork.  "If  Kevork  Ordoyan  is  dead,  let  Kevork 
Arakelian  serve  the  former's  term,"  decided  the  officer  of 
justice.  And  for  three  years  Kevork  Arakelian  with  an  ex- 
cusable confidence  is  waiting  in  the  prison  ....  for  justice. 

4.  In  Batoum  the  police  were  looking  for  an  Armenian, 
Hrant  Sarafian,  a  shoemaker,  from  Trebizonde,  Turkey.  He 
could  not  be  found,  as  he  had  departed  from  that  city  long 
ago.  But  was  there  not  another  Armenian  named  Hrant,  in 
Batoum,  thought  the  investigator?  With  an  unfortunate  co- 
incidence the  son  of  the  Priest  Melian  was  called  Hrant. 
They  arrested  and  imprisoned  him.     And  why  not?     Student, 


19 

named.  Hrant,  and  the  son  of  an  Armenian  priest!  The 
justice  of  Liegen  did  not  care  that  this  man  is  Hrant  Melian, 
and  not  Sarafian;  student,  and  not  shoemaker;  from  Batoum, 
and  not  from  Trebizonde.  It  sufficed  that  his  name  was 
Hrant.  Let  him  languish  in  prison.  The  world  will  not  be 
the  poorer  for  it. 

5.  The  wretched  cemetery  of  Erivan  had  a  guard,  old, 
weak,  as  harmless  as  the  cemetery.  He  was  named  Hagop 
Avedissian,  and  born  in  Caesarea,  Turkey.  One  day  that  poor 
old  man  was  dragged  to  the  police  court,  and  then  to 
prison.  He  could  not  understand  what  was  happening.  He 
was  crying  and  knocking  his  head  against  the  wall,  and  trying 
to  wrench  the  iron  bars  off  the  window  with  his  boney  hands. 
He  was  repeating  all  day  long:  "What  is  my  crime,  what 
have  I  done."  And  the  innocent  guard,  of  course,  could  not 
imagine  that  he  was  arrested  for  another  Hagop;  Hagop 
Gotoyan.  The  latter  was  from  Moush,  and  not  from  Caesarea, 
young  and  not  old,  a  soldier,  and  not  a  cemetery  guard.  But 
why  these  "unimportant"  details !  He  was  a  Hagop,  that  suf- 
ficed.   The  poor  guard  lost  his  senses,  but  he  is  in  jail  yet. 

6.  With  the  same  justice  and  manner  Vram  Vahanian 
of  Terbizonde  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  Vahan  Papa- 
zian,  of  Van,  now  a  member  of  the  Turkish  Parliament. 
Karekin  Kevorkian  was  cast  into  prison  for  Karekin  Mira- 
kian;  Levont  Melconian,  of  Ganzak,  was  imprisoned  instead 
of  Ardashes  Melconian,  of  Tiflis ;  four  men  whose  first  names 
are  Nicola  were  imprisoned  in  Baku  for  Nicola  Der  Hovan- 
nessian  who  was  sought  by  the  Government.  They  had  dif- 
ferent patronyms,  different  trades,  came  from  different  quar- 
ters; but  as  their  first  names  were  Nicola,  that  proved  their 
guilt ! 

And  these  cases  are  innumerable  and  endless.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  have  heart  to  record  the  sad  incidents  which  have 
plunged  many  families  in  unfathomable  suffering  and 
lamentation.  But  enough  is  mentioned  to  give  a  just  idea 
of  what  mad  proportion  these  ridiculous  persecutions  have 
assumed  and  which  persecutions  are  disguised  under  the  vizor 
of  court  examination. 


20 

IN  THE  CELLS. 


Injustice  characterized  the  search — irregularity  the 
method  of  arrest.    But  that  was  not  the  end. 

The  cells  themselves  were  remote  from  prying  inquiry, 
removed  from  investigation,  dark  and  hidden  as  their  secrets, 
an  inaccessible  world,  where  no  eye  can  penetrate  and  no 
voice  reach.  And  in  that  "autocratic  kingdom"  where  police 
tyranny  is  not  only  countenanced  but  encouraged,  the  torture 
to  which  the  Russian  prisoner  has  been  the  slave  for  so  many 
years,  continues. 

"Every  means  is  permissible"  was  the  order  of  the  magis- 
trate and  the  intention  of  that  official,  though  criminal,  was 
to  encourage  the  unhappy  prisoners  to  hatch  plots  to  their 
undoing  and  thus  magnify  "the  political  affair." 

"The  Armenian  prisoners  in  Novotcherkask  and  Ros- 
tove,"  writes  one  of  the  prisoners,  "are  teeming  with  un- 
speakable conditions.  It  is  a  lie  to  say  that  there  is  no  torture 
in  Russia.  Yes!  It  exists.  Twenty-five  to  thirty  men  are 
placed  in  one  cell  that  hardly  holds  six  or  seven.  There  are  no 
bedsteads,  not  even  bedding;  and  the  miserable  inmates  sleep 
on  the  bare  ground,  huddled  under  a  single  blanket,  dirty  as 
the  filth  in  which  they  are  compelled  to  lie.  Nor  do  they  give 
enough  food  even  to  the  unfortunate,  who  are  able  and  willing 
to  pay.  One  slice  of  bread  and  some  water  daily.  Reading 
and  writing  is  forbidden  and  communication  with  the  outside 
world  prohibited.  Should  a  prisoner,  by  doctor's  prescription, 
be  permitted  to  have  an  extra  piece  of  bread,  some  boiled 
eggs  or  a  box  of  cigarettes,  the  loaf  is  cut  open  and  the  eggs 
broken  to  prevent  the  chance  of  smuggling  even  a  scrap  of 
paper.  ...  In  the  cold  cells  a  loathsome  smell  prevails  and 
despairing  barrenness.  The  guards  are  as  immovable  as  the 
rocks,  stern  and  forbidding,  menacing  as  the  lightning. 
We  cannot  cry — we  are  ashamed.  We  cannot  rage  and  roar. 
They  permit  no  sound — what  shall  we  do?  The  walls  are 
thick,  the  bars  strong,  and  the  world  remote.  What  can  we 
do  ?    We  are  but  waiting " 


21 

No  sanitary  precautions  are  taken,  no  care  offered.  Even 
the  sick  beseeching  for  warmth  or  clothing  are  refused. 

In  19 10  Restove  was  wholly  infected  with  cholera,  and 
throughout  the  district  the  "subjects"  were  dying  like  flies. 
Soon  the  news  of  this  plague  reached  the  prison  and  deep 
horror  prevailed  within  its  walls.  It  is  not  difficult  to  picture 
the  situation  of  those  who  realized  themselves  helpless  and 
shackled  in  the  midst  of  this  pestilence,  devoid  of  air  and 
light,  with  virtually  no  medical  attendance  or  proper  disin- 
fection. Desperate  and  impotent  they  could  but  protest  un- 
availingly  against  their  tragic  plight.  "What  will  happen," 
they  cry  with  one  accord,  "should  the  pestilence  invade  the 
prison  as  well?"  The  authorities  were  silent  and  the  prison- 
ers as  well  as  their  loved  ones  at  home  at  last  became  con- 
vinced that  Legine,  the  inspector,  connected  with  the  gen- 
darmerie, with  diabolical  cunning,  was  deliberately  inviting 
this  method  of  suppressing  "the  political  evil,"  the  life  of  the 
prisoners,  by  means  of  "the  irresponsible  evil" — pestilence. 

What  a  horrible  conviction! 

I  wonder  if  it  requires  great  power  of  imagination  to  pic- 
ture the  horror  of  those  days  and  nights  spent  by  the  unhappy 
prisoners  behind  those  iron  barred  windows  when  cholera 
was  reigning  outside  as  the  sword  of  the  jailer  within  the 
locked  portals. 

The  following  year  another  misfortune  befell. 

In  the  first  part  of  January,  191 1,  typhoid  fever  made 
its  appearance  in  the  prison  of  Novotcherkask,  and  soon 
assumed  threatening  proportions.  That  vile  dungeon,  mis- 
called a  prison,  was  built  to  accommodate  two  hundred  and 
seventy  inmates,  yet  the  number  crowded  in  it  at  this  time 
exceeds  eight  hundred  and  fifty  people.  This  condition, 
coupled  with  the  total  lack  of  sanitary  precaution,  would 
naturally  hasten  the  spread  of  a  disease,  such  as  typhoid 
fever,  and,  indeed,  in  March,  191 1,  the  number  of  the  infected 
exceeded  one  hundred  and  the  dead  twenty. 

Early  in  March  the  Medical  Director  visited  the  prison. 
Let  us  now  listen  to  the  words  of  his  report. 

"The  cells  of  the  prison  are  overcrowded  beyond  their 
capacity ;  the  air  vitiated  and  loathsome.    In  the  cells,  wooden 


22 

boxes,  called  parashes,  are  placed  for  natural  necessities  of 
the  prisoners;  and  these  are  making  the  atmosphere  more  un- 
bearable, which  already  was  unbreathable  enough.  Besides 
these  boxes  are  placed  the  wooden  vessels  containing  the 
drinking  water  for  the  unfortunates.  The  prisoners'  under- 
wear is  dirty,  seldom  changed  oftener  than  once  in  three  weeks. 

"Before  this,  in  January,  the  prison  physician  wrote  to 
the  Governor  of  the  prison,  telling  him  that  typhoid  fever 
has  appeared  in  the  prison.  The  Governor,  however,  faith- 
ful to  the  instruction  of  Taube,  the  head  of  the  district,  for- 
bade the  doctor  to  communicate  anything  concerning  the  dis- 
ease to  the  Medical  Director,  and  for  this  reason,  in  the  ac- 
counts of  the  prison,  nothing  was  said  of  typhoid  fever  and, 
in  fact,  it  was  said  that  the  prisoners  had  been  ill  with  ma- 
teria. 

"In  spite  of  repeated  demands  from  the  doctor  to  impart 
to  the  Board  of  Health  the  necessary  information  regarding 
the  typhoid  fever  the  director  of  the  prison,  obstinately  and 
deliberately  concealed  the  existence  of  the  malady." 

This  criminal  official  "secrecy"  horrified  the  relatives  of 
the  unfortunates  shut  in  this  jail  at  Novotcherkask,  and  they 
prepared  the  following  telegram  and  sent  it  to  the  Minister 
of  Justice : 

"In  the  Prison  at  Novo  Tscheegask,  there  is  now 
raging  a  terrible  pestilence.  More  than  a  hundred 
prisoners  as  well  as  the  prison  director,  three  assistants, 
ten  supervisors,  six  clerks,  the  prison  physician  and  three 
assistants  are  sick.  Mortality  is  assuming  alarming  pro- 
portions and  among  the  dead  are  two  of  the  overseers ; 
the  sanitary  conditions  are  unbearable.  The  prison  built 
to  house  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  inmates  now  con- 
tains in  excess  of  eight  hundred  inmates.  The  building  is 
located  on  the  lowest  ground  in  the  city  where  fever  pre- 
vails. The  floors  of  the  cells  are  asphalt.  Those  held  as 
accused  of  the  'Affair  of  Dashnaktsoutun'  are  already  round- 
ing out  their  third  and  fourth  years  of  confinement  and 
all  are  of  impaired  health.  Most  of  them  seriously  affected 
by  consumption,  others  with  diseases  of  bones,  nervous  dis- 
orders and  eye  trouble.  Some  are  affected  with  palsy  and 
two  have  lost  their  hearing  and  all  are  now  exposed  to  the 
dreadful  typhoid  fever.     It  is  easy  to  understand  how  their 


23 

impaired  constitutions  are  unable  to  withstand  the  ravages 
of  that  terrible  disease." 

"Taking  all  this  into  consideration,  we  request  your 
Excellency  to  release  them  on  personal  recognizance  or 
light  bail;  for  they  being  economically  as  well  as  physically 
ruined,  are  unable  to  provide  large  sums  of  money.  The 
preliminary  investigation  of  this  'Affair  of  Dashnakt- 
soutun'  is  already  completed  and  the  families  of  the  prison- 
ers are  almost  beside  themselves  with  terror  at  the  peril 
to  which  their  dear  ones  are  now  subjected."  3 

Silence  alone  from  the  minister ! 

This  was  but  the  natural  horror  due  to  natural  conditions 
alone,  and  yet  the  agents  of  tyranny  are  not  satisfied  and  add 
to  it  the  artificial,  the  scourges,  the  straps  and  other  varied 
instruments  of  torture ! 

Let  the  facts  alone  speak! 

It  was  in  the  prison  of  Baku,  that  the  agents  of  investi- 
gation determined  to  hear  secrets,  to  have  G — M — utter  words 
of  things  not  existing.  The  youth  resisted  with  constancy 
and  continued  mildness — the  order  was  given  and  his  head 
compressed  between  clamps  until  he  fainted.  This  was  re- 
sumed  again  and  again,  while  the  torturers  repeated  the  fateful 
words:  "You  cannot  be  rid  of  us,  until  you  confess  your 
guilt." 

In  another  prison  in  Tiflis,  the  poor  prisoner  G — D — M — 
was  subjected  to  continuous  flagellation  with  straps  for  two 
weeks,  while  his  poor  body  was  covered  with  the  swollen 
welts,  and  yet  his  cruel  tormentors  would  not  cease.  They 
were  exacting  "Confessions!" 


sIn  consequence  of  this  telegram,  so  ominous  in  its  portent  of  dis- 
aster, one  of  the  St.  Petersburg  papers,  "Rech,"  published  the  following: 
"The  condition  of  the  prisoners  is  indeed  appalling  and  wholly  desperate, 
one  cannot  imagine  how  they  incarcerate  for  years,  poor  wretches  wasting 
with  disease  in  an  overcrowded  and  wholly  unsuitable  place,  casting  fifty 
into  a  cell  and  making  them  sleep  on  the  bare,  icy  floor.  In  one  corner 
where  Armenians  from  Hashdaekhan  are,  the  place  is  called  "Blacktown"" 
on  account  of  the  darkness  so  great  that  even  during  day  time  the  inmates 
cannot  see  each  others'  faces  without  striking  matches.  Many  in  this  cell 
where  Armenians  from  Hashdarkhan  are,  the  place  is  called  "Blacktown" 
entered  the  prison  healthy  and  strong  and  now  many  have  their  consti- 
tutions ruined  forever,  and  this  is  not  the  punishment  of  a  sentence,  but 
merely  preliminary  imprisonment  before  the  actual  trial  which  frequently 
proves  them  innocent.  This  is  nothing  less  than  the.  execution  of  those 
not  yet  convicted.  It  is  not  a  preliminary  incarceration,  but  a  frightful 
ordeal  and  a  slow  and  gradual  execution  and,  therefore,  far  worse." 


24 

The  prison  of  Rostove  was  the  scene  of  more  serious 
cruelties.  There  was  one  victim,  Mednikian,  a  lawyer  who 
protested  his  innocence,  demanded  investigation,  asked  for 
trial.  For  trial,  they  gave  him  the  whip,  and  for  investigation, 
revilings  of  the  foulest  language.  The  unfortunate  man,  horri- 
fied and  discouraged,  went  mad — and  is  now  a  helpless  imbecile 
wailing  his  grief.  No  one  cares — "He  is  mad,"  they  say,  and 
pass  him  by. 

Insane  is  his  neighbor,  too,  an  exhausted  old  man,  lean  as 
a  skeleton,  guardian  of  a  cemetery,  with  no  thoughts  of  this 
world  save  the  grave.  They  have  arrested  him  also.  He  does 
not  know  his  guilt ;  they  have  thrust  him  into  a  cell,  he  knows 
not  why,  and  they  lashed  and  tormented  him  day  after  day. 
Why  ?  God  only  knows — he  scratched  the  walls  with  his  nails 
and  roaring,  raging  and  screaming,  at  last  lost  his  mind.  Now 
when  with  tearful  smile  he  demands  his  liberty,  the  jailer  points 
the  whip  to  him.  Is  he  not  insane? 

Here  is  another  victim :  The  Reverend  Nicholas  Solo- 
monian,  a  priest,  from  the  village  of  Ganzak.  They  arrested, 
stripped  and  tormented  him,  so  that  the  grief -stricken  Father 
died  without  even  knowing  of  what  he  was  guilty.  The  poor 
priest  in  his  death  agony,  moaning  and  sobbing,  told  his  fellow 
prisoners  who  were  the  unwilling  witnesses  of  his  torture,  that 
he  would  soon  pass  away  in  death ;  wept,  begged  for  fresh  air, 
and  uttering  his  wife's  name,  wished  to  kiss  his  children  for 
the  last  farewell — these  young,  inexperienced  children  who  re- 
ceived their  father's  dead  body  could  not  and  never  will  realize 
why  he  was  arrested  and  tortured  to  death  away  from  them  in 
a  prison  cell. 

There  were  two  deaths  in  the  prison  of  Erivan.  The  vic- 
tims being  young  men  from  Igtire,  who  died  with  their  glaz- 
ing eyes  fixed  on  space,  and  their  mute  lips  questioning  "why?" 

In  the  prison  at  Vladicaucus,  a  prisoner  in  his  agony 
roused  his  failing  strength  and  said,  "I  know  that  I  am  soon 
to  die,  but  before  I  do  I  wish  to  know  of  what  I  am  guilty." 

He  died,  as  did  many  others,  with  the  question  unan- 
swered, and  such  will  be  the  sad  fate  of  many  more. 

And  the  survivors!  Unfortunate  witnesses  of  these  un- 
earthlv  tragedies,  viewing  with  fearful  hearts  the  removal  of 


25 

the  dead  bodies  from  the  prison  and  vowing  vengeance,  are 
murmuring  dejectedly: 

"Perhaps  tomorrow  they  may  carry  out  our  dead  bodies, 
and  why?" 

And  one  day  the  corpse  was  carried  out.  It  was  in  front  of 
the  door  of  the  prison.  A  great  multitude  had  swarmed  around 
since  early  morning  and  were  now  impatiently  waiting,  people 
of  every  class  and  condition  having  hastened  there.  The  old 
village  priest,  who  had  come  to  see  his  son,  the  country  woman 
coming  on  foot  from  a  distant  village  to  enjoy  at  least  a  few 
minutes  with  the  son  she  had  not  seen  for  eight  months,  the 
student,  who  with  difficulty  had  obtained  a  license  to  see  his 
brother ;  all  of  them  pale,  exhausted  and  weak  with  the  scorch- 
ing sun.  Their  hearts  and  minds  all  centered  on  the  discolored 
stones  of  the  prison  walls,  and  all  with  the  same  vain  hope  in 
their  breasts  to  see  the  beloved  prisoners  at  least  once,  and  to 
hear  from  their  lips  one  hope-inspiring  word. 
And  now  the  doors  are  opened. 

The  crowd  with  throbbing  hearts  moved  like  a  rolling 
wave  and  presently  fell  back  as  if  struck  by  a  bolt  of  lightning, 
absolutely  petrified  as  there  appeared  a  funeral  casket,  which 
was  placed  in  position  by  order  of  the  priest  who  recited  the 
prayers,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  to  him. 

Who  was  lying  there  dead  in  the  casket  ? 
"My  son!  My  son!"  screamed  a  woman  from  out  of  the 
multitude,  and  the  old  woman  threw  herself  on  the  bier  like 
a  flash  of  lightning,  with  her  bony  arms  embracing  the  casket 
and  kissing  the  cold  face  of  her  beloved  dead  son,  now  raising 
her  head  and  turning  to  the  people  around  her  and  then  with 
yearning  eyes  turned  heavenward,  only  to  repeat  her  caresses 
on  the  dead  face  before  her,  the  climax  of  a  mother's  immense 
and  infinite  grief — her  cry  "my  son!" 

That  son  whom  she  had  come  to  see  and  enjoy,  and  now 
only  his  dead  body ! 


26 

THE  REASONS. 

I. — Internal. 

Why  so  great  severity,  and  why  this  gnashing  of  teeth 
against  a  people  who,  although  crushed  in  the  talons  of  Oriental 
despotism  for  untold  years,  has  always  been  the  pioneer  of 
Russian  advancement,  and  the  firm  rampart  on  the  two  fron- 
tiers against  Mohammedan  tyranny  ? 

Seek  for  the  explanation  in  the  Metropolis  of  the  North, 
where  the  jewels  of  State  impudence  are  found  guarded  by 
the  agents  of  the  central  tyranny. 

When  the  Russian  throne  came  out  unscathed  of  the  de- 
vouring flames  of  the  Pan-Russian  Revolution,  the  government 
of  the  Tzar,  instead  of  hearkening  to  the  cries  and  needs  of 
the  people,  resorted,  on  the  contrary,  to  a  policy  of  deceit  and 
persecution. 

The  deceit  is  the  Duma. 

The  persecution  is  the  period  of  unlimited  oppressions 
under  the  pretence  of  the  Duma,  the  like  of  which  were  un- 
known even  in  the  days  of  Pobiedonostzef  under  the  reign  of 
Alexander  III. 

Persecution  against  individuals  under  the  accusation  of 
being  "Revolutionists." 

Persecution  against  nations,  under  suspicion  of  being 
"Separatists." 

Prison !  Exile !  Gallows !  These  were  the  only  means  of 
smothering  the  liberty-inspiring  breath  in  the  North,  where  so 
many  hopes  died  unrevealed,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Volga, 
which  became  the  silent  witness  of  the  greatest  crimes,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Caucasian  Mountains  where  once  inspiring  songs 
were  written  devoted  to  the  White  King  Gaisson,  and  in  the 
cities  of  Poland,  the  overwhelming  grief  of  which  has  fur- 
nished material  for  long  ages  of  history. 

Finland,  that  knightly  and  quiet  region,  was  one  of  the 
first  to  suffer  persecution,  and  in  spite  of  the  royal  promises 
the  Finnish  Constitution  was  abrogated  and  trampled  upon.4 


4  We  regret  that  the  scope  and  plan  of  this  booklet  does  not  permit 
our  giving  at  least  a  brief  sketch  of  these  crimes  and  horrors  of  which 
Finland,  Poland  and  Central  Russia  were  the  stage. 


27 

The  Tzar  had  taken  oath  to  be  faithful  to  the  Constitution, 
and  "he  now  retracts  his  promise,"  said  the  Prime  Minister 
of  the  Tzar,  after  which  he  was  obliged  to  use  a  handker- 
chief to  wipe  off  the  moisture  from  his  brow,  spat  upon. 

Then  came  Poland's  turn!  Who  does  not  remember  the 
unchronicled  terror  for  three  years  which  scorched  and  seared 
this  doomed  land,  and  buried  in  oblivion  the  date  1863  chron- 
icled in  history — crimes  of  which  no  gendarmerie  was  cog- 
nizant. 

After  silencing  these  two  distant  parts,  the  present  agent 
of  autocracy,  Stolypin,  extended  his  bloody  hand  over  all  Cen- 
tral Russia — the  heartstone  of  revolution. 

What  crimes  unheard  of !  The  sight  of  the  Russian  ideal- 
istic youth,  fresh  and  revolting,  hushed  the  storm  and  the 
earth  was  reddened  with  their  blood. 

Once  it  was  only  St.  Petersburg  that  had  Petro-Povlovsk. 
What  an  honor !  Now  every  city  shares  that  honor  by  the  Im- 
perial sacred  edict. 

There  was  a  time  when  execution,  by  bullet,  was  re- 
served for  exceptional  "sins  against  the  State."  Now  it  is 
the  usual  method  for  the  execution  of  the  lacos. 

Once  women  were  exempt  from  the  tortures  of  imprison- 
ment, but  now  the  women  also  are  surrendered  to  the  Cossacks' 
knout,  kotard  and  spor. 

The  center  was  silenced  and  the  Jews  learned  their  "les- 
son"; then  St.  Petersburg  turned  its  leopard-eyes  towards  the 
South,  the  foot  of  Ararat  and  Kasbik,  whence  came  the  ring- 
ing sounds  of  the  song  of  freedom,  the  brotherly  echo  of  the 
great  song  of  the  Pan-Russian  Revolution. 

Caucasus,  that  beautiful  cradle  of  political  love  and 
hatred,  the  scene  of  long  ages  of  great  Mohammedan  and 
Christian  encounters,  where  Ararat,  the  historic  domain  of 
the  Biblical  Ark,  long  waited  but  as  yet  was  denied  to  enjoy 
its  dream  of  the  emancipation  of  nations. 

In  that  country  of  many  languages  and  races,5  the  gov- 

B  In  the  Caucasus  live  these  nations  and  races :  Georgians,  Armenians, 
Russians,  Tartars,  Greeks,  Kurds,  Tats,  Assyrians,  Utis,  Lesgies,  Oses, 
Abaz,  Nogei,  Avar,  Lak,  Potlich,  Metz,  Chechen,  Apghaz,  Lezgy,  Circas- 
sians, Germans,  Moldavians,  &c,  aggregating  ten  millions  of  inhabitants, 
of  which  six  and  one-half  millions  live  in  Trans-Caucasus,  of  whom  the 
principal  elements  are  Georgians,  Armenians  and  Tartars. 


28 

ernment  endeavored  to  follow  a  special  programme,  mean  and 
really  criminal. 

At  first  it  endeavored  to  alienate  the  Georgians  from  the 
Armenians.  To  that  effect,  promises  were  made  to  the  Geor- 
gian aristocracy,  which  unfortunately  exerts  considerable  in- 
fluence on  the  people,  and  they  received  all  sorts  of  political 
privileges.  As  soon  as  the  Georgian  community,  encouraged 
by  these  "special  favors,"  started  a  small  movement  in  Kauria 
in  the  name  of  liberty,  the  "friendly"  and  "co-religious"  gov- 
ernment immediately  flooded  the  unfortunate  district  with 
regiments  of  soldiers  and  Cossacks,  commanding  them  "to 
suppress  this  movement  by  every  means,  sparing  neither 
life  nor  property,"  which  command  was  effectually  carried  out 
with  fire  and  ruin,  gun  and  sword,  which  killed  the  small 
movement  in  this  little  unfortunate  country  completely.  After 
the  ruin  there  came  exile,  and  all  throughout  Georgia  arose 
the  wail  of  horror. 

Then  came  the  turn  to  the  Armenians ! 

The  Armenian  inhabitants  of  Caucasus  were  the  object 
of  the  special  enmity  of  St.  Petersburg  for  a  long  time  previ- 
ously. The  Governor-in-Chief,  Golitzen,  a  peculiar  type  of  the 
unbridled  Tchinovink,  haughty,  "causak"  and  tyrannical  (this 
was  from  1897  to  1904),  carried  out  the  scheme;  he  armed 
all  the  Caucasus  against  each  other  and  disseminated  the  seeds 
of  enmity  among  the  different  nationalities,  and,  with  the 
willing  aid  of  Von  Pleve  and  Stolypin,  succeeded  in  convincing 
the  central  government  that  the  chief  controllers  of  the  Ar- 
menian movement  and  revolution  were  the  Armenian  clergy- 
men, and  that  the  furnace  which  furnished  the  fuel  was  the 
Church — a  very  foolish  and  unwise  idea  worthy  of  its  author. 
The  conclusion  reached  was  that  it  "was  necessary  to  confiscate 
the  property  of  the  Church  and  thus  weaken  it." 

On  June  12th,  1903,  came  the  supreme  order  "to  confis- 
cate the  riches  and  property  of  the  Churches  and  turn  them 
over  to  the  government." 

No  petition,  no  protest,  on  the  part  of  the  Catholicos  and 
the  people  was  of  any  avail — the  tyrant  was  immovable !  An 
extra  military  force  was  ordered  to  carry  out  this  base  edict 
and  well  they  did  it,  breaking  in  the  doors  of  many  churches 


29 

and  robbing  them  of  their  treasures.  Even  in  the  religious  cen- 
tre of  Etchmeadzin,  they  broke  open  the  safe  of  the  monas- 
tery.    Many  clergymen  were  imprisoned. 

This  vandalism,  however,  was  ere  long  confronted  with 
indignation  and  bad  revolts.  The  church  yards  with  their  moss- 
covered  walls  were  transformed  into  battlefields.  Blood 
flowed  and  corpses  piled  up  around  the  monasteries,  and  the 
spirit  of  resistance  soared  above  the  Armenians. 

The  tyrant  was  forced  to  yield ! 

Before  the  end  of  the  year,  the  property  of  the  churches 
was  returned.  The  autocrat,  however,  did  not  forget  his  de- 
feat, but  kept  it  fast  in  his  mind.  "Who  are  these  people  who 
dare  to  resist  the  soldiers  of  the  Tzar?  They  must  get  their 
'lesson'  and  they  will." 

They  were  waiting  for  the  opportune  moment. 


Two  years  passed  by. 

The  fire  of  revolution  had  surrounded  the  Russian  do- 
main and  the  government  of  the  Tzar  had  hastened  to  crush 
the  Armenians  as  an  important  factor,  so  as  to  render  them 
helpless  towards  the  general  revolution  now  anticipated.  In 
effect,  they  put  into  execution  a  disastrous  plan  and  conspiracy 
to  bring  about  an  Armeno-Tartaric  collision,  by  arming  the 
Tartar  hordes  and  instigating  them  against  the  Armenians, 
thus  gaining  the  favor  of  the  Mohammedan  people  and  on 
the  other  hand  forcing  the  Armenian  element  to  self-defense, 
so  that  they  could  not,  if  they  would,  join  the  movement,  even 
with  the  smallest  share. 

This  fiendish  plot  was  prepared  through  the  suggestions 
of  Von  Pleve,  and  was  entrusted  to  the  agents  of  the  criminal 
Minister  of  the  Caucasus  to  be  fully  carried  out. 

On  a  quiet  day  in  Baku  the  Tartars,  inflamed  with  the 
Mohammedan  spirit,  attacked  the  Armenian  quarters  without 
cause  or  reason. 

This  was  on  February  6th,  1905. 

General  astonishment  prevailed.  Notwithstanding  the 
supplications  and  applications  for  help  made  by  the  Armeni- 
ans, the  police  remained  both  indifferent  and  inactive.  In- 
stead of  preventing  the  bloodshed  the  police,  on  the  contrary, 


3° 

encouraged  the  Mohammedan  Beys  and  the  mob,  and  the 
clash  of  battle  extended  from  one  end  of  the  Trans-Caucasus 
to  the  other.  After  Baku,  came  Erivan,  Nakhitchevan,  Shou- 
shi,  Ganzak,  to  be  the  said  scenes  of  unimaginable  misfortune 
and  calamity. 

Once  more  the  blood  flowed. 

The  cities  were  reduced  to  ashes.  The  roaring  of  guns 
filled  the  villages.  The  conflagration  consumed  whole  quar- 
ters. The  scythes  of  the  quiet  villagers  were  discarded  for 
swords.    On  every  side  ruin  and  desolation  reigned  supreme.' 

Once  more,  however,  the  bullets  failed;  again  with  self 
devotion  defensive  ranks  were  formed.  Side  by  side  stood  the 
brave  people.  More  than  fifteen  thousand  men  sallied  out  from 
their  generous  bosom  and  enlisted  under  the  flag  of  resistance 
to  teach  their  lesson  to  the  Tartaric  invasion.  Force,  united, 
with  the  great  idea,  carried  forward  its  great  role  of  warning. 
The  conspiring  government  "held  its  tongue  in  leash,"  while 
all  their  sombre  forces  tried  their  utmost  to  drench  the  quiet 
fields  of  labor  with  the  blood  and  tears  of  their  foes,  but  when 
vanquished  they  became  as  humble  as  infants  and  as  soft  as  a 
summer  breeze, — this  was  their  lesson  of  the  revolution. 

After  this  sad,  fratracidal  conflict  was  over  the  sealed 
lips  were  free  and  even  from  among  the  Tartars  themselves, 
there  came  out  fearless  men  and  good  citizens  who  had  the 
courage  to  speak  out  the  truth  boldly. 

On  June  ioth,  1906,  the  governor  of  Goutsak  Alftan  went 
out  to  visit  the  ruined  places  and  when  in  the  city  of  Khozah, 


•  In  the  years  1905  and  1906  at  the  sad  conflicts  of  the  Armenians  and 
the  Tartars  286  villages  were  sacked  and  ruined  of  which  number  128 
were  inhabited  by  Armenians,  158  by  Turks.  The  number  of  injured 
families  was  14760.     Of  these  7265  were  Armenians,  while  7495  Tartars. 

The  destroyed  cities  were  Baku,  Shushy,  Ganzak,  Erivan,  Hin 
Nakhitchevan,  Khazak  and  Tiflis.  The  number  of  injured  is  again  im- 
mense. 

The  number  of  Armenians  killed  are  the  following:  Baku,  176; 
Shushy,  126;  Ganzak,  132;  Hin  Nakhitchevan,  55.  The  villages  around 
Shushy,  160;  Minken,  198.  The  villages  of  Ganzak,  212.  The  villages  of 
Nakhitchevan,    114. 

The  number  of  Tartars  killed  was  still  greater,  but  we  have  no 
statistics  because  the  Mohammedans,  according  to  some  strange  custom, 
conceal  everything  pertaining  to  the  number  killed  and  other  such  infor- 
mations. 


3* 

among  the  crowd  gathered  on  a  public  square,  a  Turkish  Bey 
came  forth  and  addressed  the  Governor  in  the  following  words : 

"Your  Excellency  is  viewing  the  city  of  Khazah, 
which  was  orderly  and  populous,  seven  or  eight  months 
ago,  but  now  it  is  destroyed  and  ruined,  for  which  we  are 
not  responsible ;  but  the  arbitrary  Judge  Orlov,  now  stand- 
ing by  you;  was  the  one  who  induced,  nay,  forced  us,  to 
massacre  the  Armenians,  unsparingly,  without  distinc- 
tion of  age  or  sex,  telling  us  that  it  was  the  wish  of  the 
government." 

In  a  more  severe  and  scathing  language  spoke  another 
Tartar,  Representative  Ziatkhanov,  in  one  of  the  sessions  of  the 
Duma;  June  12th,  1906. 

He  said : 

"The  officers  of  the  government  ruined  Georgia,  that 
beautiful  country;  through  their  soldiers  they  provoked 
the  Mussulmans  and  the  Armenians,  inciting  them  to 
massacre  each  other. 

"I  declare  from  this  pulpit  that  there  never  had  been 
any  enmity  between  Tartars  and  Armenians  on  economical 
grounds  alone,  we  had  been  living  together  as  good 
neighbors  and  liked  each  other,  there  had  not  been  any 
armed  collisions,  and  if  cases  of  murder  happened  they 
were  single  exceptions,  and  never  assumed  any  great 
proportions. 

"Our  officials  and  generals  have  proved  their  incompe- 
tency, for  two  entire  years  we  have  been  literally  swim- 
ming in  a  sea  of  blood  up  to  our  knees,  and  walking  over 
carcasses. 

"Make  them  retire,  and  quit  their  posts  immediately ; 
we  have  seen  enough  of  the  flames  and  conflagrations,  and 
we  have  seen  enough  of  the  sad  picture  of  falling  bodies 
and  listened  to  the  mourning  wails,  and  sobs,  of  unfortu- 
nate mothers.     More  than  enough  !" 

What  an  awful  sentence  of  condemnation! 

Did  the  government  chief  blush  ?  Did  his  criminal  hands 
tremble, — those  hands  which  signed  the  decrees  of  death  ?  No ! 
No !    Furious  in  his  defeat,  the  tyrant  roared : 

"It  is  necessary  to  beat  down  that  force,  to  bridle  that 
arrogant  people." 


32 

II. — External. 

Beginning  with  1907,  to  the  internal  reasons  were  now 
added  the  external.  Political  and  important  changes  beyond 
the  frontier  in  Persia  and  in  Turkey. 

The  wave  of  liberty  and  a  constitution  at  last  reached  the 
doors  of  the  palace  of  Shahinshah!  The  slumbering  people 
for  ages  were  now  awakening,  rebels  appeared  against  the  mon- 
arch of  Teheran.  The  government  of  St.  Petersburg,  disturbed 
by  the  unexpected  awakening  on  the  soil  of  Persia,  sent  troops 
to  Salmast,  Tauriz  and  Racht,  and  agents  to  Teheran  to  keep 
the  road  of  his  invasion  open  to  Azerbajan,  on  which  its  eyes 
had  been  fixed  for  a  century.  Meanwhile  it  endeavored  vainly 
to  check  the  liberal  movement,  the  echo  of  which  was  heard 
with  great  joy  in  the  mountain  chains  of  the  Caucasus. 

In  Persia  also  where  the  melody  of  liberty  was  ringing 
from  the  cleft  citadel  of  tyranny,  now  strong,  then  sad,  there 
stood  against  the  triumphant  soldiers  of  the  Tzar,  side  by  side 
with  the  sons  of  Iran,  the  Armenian,  flag  in  hand,  and  with 
his  breast  bared  to  the  bullet. 

The  Armenians  of  Azerbajan,  although  small  in  numbers 
and  in  strength,  considered  it  unworthy  of  them  not  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  movement  of  freedom,  and  they  sent  what  aid 
they  could  to  the  army  of  the  constitution.  The  Armenian 
revolutionists,  with  the  Mohammedan  and  Georgian  soldiers  of 
liberty  from  Caucasus,  gave  not  only  their  money  and  property, 
but  their  very  life  and  blood,  and  their  body  to  the  pedestal 
of  this  great  monument  of  Freedom.  And  even  in  Teheran, 
the  leader  of  the  Constitutionalist  soldiers  is  a  modest  Ar- 
menian, named  Eprem,  who  with  the  aid  of  Armenian  war- 
riors is  resisting  the  reactionary  army  and  the  foreign  in- 
vaders. 

"Armenians  again!" 

The  tyranny  of  St.  Petersburg  exclaims  in  a  wild  fury, 
and  full  of  venomous  hatred :  "They  must  be  destroyed  until 
not  a  trace  of  them  remains!" 


"The  Armenians  here  also!" 

Reports  the  Russian  ambassador  of  Constantinople,  shame- 
stricken  and  envious  of  the  fact,  that,  while  on  the  shores  of 


33 

the  Neva  the  Duma  is  but  a  shadow,  in  the  hands  of  Cossacks, 
on  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  yesterday's  fortress  of  the 
Ottoman  Nero,  the  song  of  liberty  is  resounding  since  the 
month  of  July,  1908,  and  Yeldiz  has  fallen  a  captive  in  the 
hands  of  the  awakened  people. 

Yeldiz  has  surrendered !  The  Parliament  is  open !  There 
is  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press.  The  criminal  is  in  prison 
and  beside  all  this,  new  hopes  and  labor  thrive  in  the  name  of 
the  new  tomorrow  and  regeneration.  These  are  facts  that  are 
unendurable  for  the  rotten  bureaucracy,  monarchical,  and 
despotic,  to  their  very  marrow. 

The  agents  of  this  bureaucracy,  some  in  Constantinople 
as  ambassadors,  others  as  consuls  in  Asia  Minor  are  insisting 
obstinately  that  it  is  the  Armenians  who  are  directing  the 
new  regime.  It  was  the  Armenian  revolution  that  harmonized 
all  of  the  various  elements  and  deposed  the  monarch,  and 
especially  it  is  the  Armenians  who  are  propagating  and  dis- 
seminating an  anti-Russian  spirit  in  the  Ottoman  Empire. 
Imbued  with  this  detestable  conviction  the  agents  of  the  Tzar, 
since  1909,  have  spared  neither  money  nor  medals,  to  carry  out 
their  plots,  to  rouse  the  ignorant  Turks  and  Kurds  against 
the  Armenians,  thus  hoping  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  infant  con- 
stitution. 

In  Caucasus  it  is  the  Armenian !  In  Persia  the  Armenian ! 
In  Turkey  the  Armenian !  It  is  the  diplomatic  nightmare  of  the 
deplorable  government  of  the  North,  which  exists  by  "non- 
existent facts,"  and  which  desires  to  be  revenged  by  destroy- 
ing and  crushing  the  Armenian  heart  and  mind — the  Armenian 
who  has  no  sin  on  his  head  nor  responsibility  for  the  past. 

What  a  change  of  role ! 

In  Constantinople,  the  cradle  of  the  Hamidian  Crime, 
the  stammering  voice  of  freedom  is  ringing  out,  while  the 
fatherland  of  Bushkin,  Gertsin,  Tolstoi  and  Karaev,  the  scene 
of  heroic  struggles,  is  reduced  to  the  place  of  torture  where 
the  prisons  are  as  full  as  the  temples  are  on  festal  days. 

In  Turkey,  yesterday's  land  of  dungeons,  there  are  no 
political  prisoners,  while  in  Russia  there  is  not  a  single  prison 
that  has  a  vacant  cell  or  corner.  Once  it  was  in  Caucasus 
that  the  Armenians  of  Turkey  sought  refuge!     Now  it  is  in 


34 

Turkey  and  Constantinople  that  the  Caucasus  Armenian  seeks 
shelter  to  be  free  from  prison  and  torture;  from  exile  and 
Siberia. 

There  was  a  time  when  from  St.  Petersburg  and  Cauca- 
sus went  forth  protest  and  contempt  against  the  Ottoman 
Neroism,  and  now  it  is  from  Byzantium  that  protest  is  heard 
against  that  crime  which  means  torture  and  persecution  for 
the  Armenian  and  shame  and  insult  for  the  Russian  mind  and 
name. 

Unfortunate  Russia! 

Turkey,  that  had  no  credit  and  benighted  Iran,  are  both 
constitutional  countries  and  have  their  own  parliament!  The 
Sultan  and  the  Shah  are  exiled,  while  great  Russia  is  but  the 
realm  of  tyranny. 

What  an  insult!  and  it  is  the  "different  elements  of  vari- 
ous races"  that  are  to  expiate  that  insult. 

That  is  the  explanation  and  also  the  reason  in  its  brief 
outline. 


35 

THE  INVESTIGATION. 


The  premeditated  "political"  system  made  one  predict  that 
this  great  affair  will  not  be  based  on  serious  judicial  investiga- 
tion within  the  limits  of  law  and  conscience,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  will  be  managed  from  political  viewpoints  according 
to  the  instructions  given  by  the  supreme  secret  police. 

This  happened! 

The  "affair"  was  committed  to  Legine. 

Who  is  Legine?  He  is  the  representative  type  of  the  Chi- 
novnik,  having  but  one  purpose,  to  be  exalted;  one  ambition, 
to  be  exalted ;  and  one  way,  to  be  exalted !  An  officer  of  po- 
lice, but  not  a  judge;  a  searcher,  but  not  an  investigator!  He 
was  an  insignificant  searcher,  and  was  notorious  in  the  affair 
known  as  "the  Republic  of  Novorosk,"  where  he  forged  all 
the  papers,  created  new  writings  with  capricious  additions  to 
existing  accusations  against  the  defendants,  and  for  all  that, 
instead  of  being  subjected  to  condemnation,  which  was  de- 
manded even  from  the  nostrum  of  the  Duma,  he  was  praised 
and  his  work  approved  by  the  Minister  of  Justice,  Schteglovi- 
tov,  and  he  was  promoted  to  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  govern- 
ment police.  Afterwards,  when  many  innocent  victims  were 
condemned  to  the  gallows,  and  others  were  exiled  through  his 
criminal  investigation,  he  was  rewarded  by  being  put  in  charge 
of  the  new  "political"  affair,  to  prove  his  zeal.  And  he  hopes 
through  the  services  rendered  to  the  revolutionary  oligarchy 
of  St.  Petersburg  to  rise  by  the  bloody  steps  to  the  post  of 
Attorney  General,  and  thence,  perhaps,  to  the  Minister's  chair, 
which  is  star-studded,  and  so  lucrative  a  post  in  Russia. 

Many  protests  were  made  by  the  community  and  the 
prisoners,  against  the  guilty  actions  of  the  police  judge,  but 
he  remained  in  his  position  defended  by  bands  of  hired  de- 
tectives and  with  singular  levity  and  bold  manner  he  is  safe 
in  his  citadel,  surrounded  by  the  police,  from  where  he  issues 
criminal  orders,  each  even  worse  than  the  other. 

Here,  in  the  investigation,  is  it  always  the  same  old 
"comedy,"  or  is  it  a  sad  tragedy,  performed  in  the  name,  but 
under  the  mask  of  justice? 


36 

Seated  in  his  great  chair,  the  investigator  with  inhuman 
severity  presumes  that  he  is  the  little  Tzar  of  Great  Russia  and 
acts  the  part.  Opposite  sits  an  officer  of  gendarmerie,  an  ex- 
pert in  plots  and  arrests.  In  the  corners  stand  the  interpre- 
ters, with  keen  scenting  noses,  and  bowing  heads,  ever  ready 
machines  to  materialize  on  paper  all  sorts  of  lies,  and  to  com- 
plete the  picture  there  is  the  representative  of  justice,  the  At- 
torney General,  silent  and  mysterious  as  the  Sphinx. 

"If  I  were  the  minister,"  roared  the  investigator,  jumping 
from  his  chair  like  a  madman,  "I  would  destroy  and  annihilate 
the  Armenian  language;  its  literature,  its  church,  its  theatre. 
I  would  scatter  the  Armenians  all  over  Russia  and  that  would 
end  the  Armenian  movement,  this  great  danger  to  the  State." 

"It  is  not  you,  but  we,  Mr.  Investigator!  We  the  guiltless 
sinners  that  are  hounded  as  political  plotters  and  subject  to 
imprisonment  and  exile,  for  the  mere  sympathy  we  entertain 
for  the  just  cause  of  an  oft-tormented  people." 

The  Attorney  General  interfered  and  the  storm  passed  by. 

"You  are  guilty  on  the  following  counts"  began  the  in- 
vestigator resuming  his  harangue,  "You  have  bought  arms  in 
illegal  ways;  you  have  armed  the  people,  and  have  sent  part 
to  Armenia,  in  Turkey;  you  have  organized  armed  bands; 
founded  a  secret  printing  house  and  are  publishing  prohibited 
papers  in  the  name  of  your  secret  society,  of  which  you  are 
a  member,  and  finally  you  are  guilty  of  a  number  of  terrors 
aimed  at  the  officials  of  the  State." 

This  is  a  well-known  phrase  prepared  in  the  offices  of  the 
gendarmerie  and  proposed  to  every  arrested  person.  Years 
and  years  ago,  when  they  pushed  to  the  foreground  the  awk- 
ward suspicion  that  the  Armenians  were  demanding  an  "inde- 
pendent kingdom,"  the  government  of  Caucasus  reported  to 
the  central  government  that,  Trans-Caucasus  was  the  "heart" 
of  the  movement,  and  that  the  residence  of  every  young  man 
was  a  store  for  arms  and  headquarters  for  warriors. 

Orders  came  from  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  investigation 
was  started.  They  were  convinced  that  they  would  find  thou- 
sands of  guns,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cartridges  and  would 
open  up  safes  of  dynamite,  secret  printing  houses,  and  a  strong, 
organized  conspiracy  against  the  State,  with  a  separatistic  pro- 
gram. 


37 

The  hopes  of  the  gendarmerie  were  not  justified,  and  hence 
the  source  of  their  entanglement  and  anger. 

"If  you  have  called  us  to  be  tried,  Mr.  Investigator,  simply 
to  pile  accusation  upon  accusation  upon  us,  without  listening 
to  our  explanations,  then  all  this  is  of  no  avail.  Shut  us  up  in 
the  prison  or  send  us  to  exile,  as  already" 

"Return  to  prison,"  the  investigator  interrupted  wildly. 
"I  know  that  you  wish  to  create  an  independent  Armenia  and 
rule  over  others  as  we  Russians  do.  But  you  seriously  mis- 
take. The  friendship  of  England  will  not  avail  you,  and  we 
do  not  wish  to  give  Armenia  to  you.  We  are  going  to  possess 
it  and  annex  it  to  Caucasus.  See !  the  railway  is  ready  on  the 
frontier,  and  we  are  waiting  for  an  occasion  to  send  troops 
to  Turkey." 

After  a  short  pause,  he  continued : 

"If  you  do  not  confess  within  three  days,  I  am  going  to 
shut  you  up  in  the  prison  for  a  year,  two  years,  I  will  deprive 
you  of  food  and  bed.  I  will  not  allow  any  communication  or 
petition  or  protest  to  come  to  me,  nor  allow  any  cummunica- 
tion  with  your  relatives  and  friends.  I  will  do  whatever  I 
wish  to  do  with  you  to  help  realize  my  purpose." 

He  attained  his  desire,  and  "he  magnified  the  flea  to 
the  size  of  a  camel."  He  manufactured  the  impossible.  He 
at  last  wrote  a  history,  each  page  sadder  than  the  other,  and 
he  made  up  his  lines  from  what  did  not  exist. 


To  complete  the  picture,  some  more  features  will  be  given, 
taken,  as  always,  from  the  facts. 

The  well-known  Armenian  writer,  Aharonian,  was  ar- 
rested and  was  kept  for  two  years  in  prison  for  the  reason  that 
as  a  member  of  a  delegation  sent  by  the  Catholics  of  the  Ar- 
menians, he  presented  himself  to  the  conference  at  The  Hague, 
the  chairman  of  which  was  Count  Nelidoff  himself,  the  ambas- 
sador of  the  Tzar. 

An  Armenian  millionaire,  Melik  Azarian,  an  old  man  of 
sixty,  was  cast  into  prison  simply  for  the  reason  that  he  had 
transferred  money  several  times  through  his  business  office. 


38 

Dr.  Atabekian  remained  in  prison  two  years  under  the  ac- 
cusation of  committing  certain  crimes  in  Shoushi  although  he 
presented  irrefutable  proofs  that  he  was  in  Baku  and  not  in 
Shoushi  at  the  time. 

A  youth,  B.  M.,  eighteen  years  old,  is  now  imprisoned  for 
the  "terrors"  he  is  charged  with  having  committed  in  1905, 
when  this  formidable  terrorist  was  but  thirteen  years  old. 

Ohanjanian,  an  able  physician,  has  been  pining  away 
in  prison  for  three  years  under  the  accusation  of  par- 
ticipating in  a  meeting  held  in  Vlatikavkas,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  he  has  never  been  in  that  city  and  therefore  could 
not  possibly  have  had  any  share  in  it. 

Tateosian,  an  officer,  was  imprisoned  two  years,  for  the 
sole  reason  that  the  name  Tateosian  was  mentioned  in  some 
suspicious  telegram. 

Etgarvian,  an  old  man  of  seventy,  was  arrested,  confined 
and  tortured  in  prison,  simply  because  one  of  his  employes 
was  a  revolutionist.  He  was  released,  under  heavy  bail,  but 
died  soon  after. 

We  could  mention  many  more  instances  as  sad  as  those 
but  there  is  no  end  to  them. 

No  alibi!  No  official,  or  even  conclusive  proof,  demon- 
strating that  the  accused  person  could  not  possibly  have  been 
in  a  said  place  at  the  said  time  received  any  attention  from  the 
police  investigator  who  ordered  them  imprisoned,  surrounded 
by  an  awesome  silence,  while  his  lowering  glances  looked  for 
some  utterance  which  might  be  racked  from  them. 

Indirect  prosecutions  also  were  inaugurated. 

In  some  of  the  villages  of  Ganzak  they  threatened  to 
arrest  women  if  their  husbands  refused  to  present  themselves 
to  the  police.  In  many  places  they  arrested  the  innocent  bro- 
ther in  order  to  compel  the  accused  brother  to  come  forward 
and  surrender.  A  letter,  or  some  incidental  writing  was  a 
sufficient  reason  to  issue  an  order  for  imprisonment.  In  one 
of  the  villages  of  Erivan  a  poor  man  was  arrested  and  pro- 
nounced guilty  for  having  convoyed  a  traveller  on  his  horse, 
because  the  traveller  was  suspected  to  be  a  "revolutionist." 


39 

Here  is  a  characteristic  instance. 

One  day  a  young  investigator,  as  yet  uncorrupted  by  the 
police  atmosphere,  was  conversing  with  the  Governor-in-Chief 
of  Ganzak,  regarding  the  arrest  of  an  Armenian  bishop. 

"In  the  absence  of  any  positive  proof,"  he  said,  "I  am  hesi- 
tating about  ordering  him  under  arrest." 

"Is  the  bishop  young?"  asked  the  Governor-in-Chief. 

"Yes,  he  is  hardly  twenty-nine  years  of  age." 

"If  he  is  young,  he  must  be  guilty,  arrest  him!" 

Such  is  the  policy  of  Legine. 

Another  example:  One  night  the  police  rushed  into  the 
house  of  a  lady,  by  the  orders  of  Legine,  and  for  a  time  the 
house  was  in  a  state  of  confusion,  and  children  were  crying. 

"What  do  you  wish?"  asked  the  lady  of  these  dreadful 
visitors. 

"Where  is  your  husband,  Davtian,  we  are  looking  for 
him." 

Confused,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  answered : 

"Oh,  how  happy  I  would  be  if  I  could  send  you  where  he 
is!  He  is  in  his  grave!" 

Davtian  had  died  eight  years  ago,  in  1903. 

But  neither  this  shameful  rebuff  nor  hundreds  of  similar 
defeats  could  halt  the  investigator  in  his  devilish  cunning.  On 
the  contrary,  he  became  more  haughty  and  aggressive.  He 
ordered  the  arrest  of  the  living  instead  of  the  dead.  The  rela- 
tives instead  of  the  missing  ones;  this  without  proof  and 
without  proper  inquiry. 

Real  investigation  there  was  none,  but  the  so-called  inves- 
tigation of  Legine  lasted  over  two  years  and  a  half,  and  as  a 
result  one  hundred  volumes  were  written,  with  more  than  one 
thousand  pages  to  each  volume,  an  eternal  monument  of  lies 
and  deceit. 


40 

THE  AFFAIR  OF  DASHNAKTSOUTUN. 


Thus  an  entire  nation  composed  of  various  classes  is  put 
on  the  bench  of  accusation  by  an  unwise  government.  A  singu- 
lar phase  in  the  annals  of  political  trials,  singular  in  the  utter 
groundlessness  of  the  accusations  and  even  more  singular  in  its 
external  form. 

Be  it  even  the  Tsar  as  the  head  of  injustice,  or  Stolypin 
as  the  inspirer,  or  Legine  as  the  executor.  Bear  in  mind  that 
to  accuse  a  whole  nation  is  a  most  unwise  and  disturbing  thing, 
which  puts  its  author  in  an  untenable  position.  It  is  utterly 
impossible  that  a  revolutionary  movement  against  the  State 
and  government  should  join  such  elements  and  classes  which 
in  their  social  position  represent  diverse  opinions  and  views. 

It  is  on  account  of  this  fact  that  the  group  of  police 
judges  were  obliged  to  disguise  under  a  party  name  the  perse- 
cution they  had  inauguarated  against  a  whole  nation;  so  they 
called  it  the  "Dashnaktsoutun  Affair." 

What  is  Dashnaktsoutun? 

It  is  an  Armenian  revolutionary  party,  organized  in  1890, 
twenty  years  ago,  having  as  its  aim  the  political  liberty  of  the 
Armenians  in  Turkey,  and  as  means  to  that  end  the  revolution- 
ary struggle,  and  as  applied  method  the  solidarity  of  all  the 
nationalities  in  Turkey.  It  was  founded  in  the  Caucasus,  but 
it  was  working  for  the  Armenians  in  Turkey.  Most  of  its 
money,  arms,  and  forces  were  furnished  from  the  Caucasus, 
but  were  used  in  Turkey  which  was  chained  by  Hamid's  hands. 

The  Russian  monarchical  bureaucracy,  beginning  from 
1890,  often  dealt  blows  to  the  Armenians  of  the  Caucasus,  but 
the  Dashnaktsoutun  never  deviated  from  its  aim,  and  did 
not  enter  into  any  conflict  with  the  Russian  authorities  until 
1903,  when  the  news  of  the  confiscation  of  the  property  of 
the  churches  excited  and  so  disturbed  the  Armenians  and  com- 
pelled the  Dashnaktsoutun,  as  a  servant  of  their  people,  and, 
as  a  body  born  of  the  people,  to  stand  by  them  and  defend  their 
violated  rights. 

Two  years  later,  in  1905,  at  the  period  of  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Pan-Russian  Revolution,  when  the  agents  of  the  Tsar 
created  the  Tartar-Armenian  collisions,  the  Armenian  party 


4i 

participated  in  that  conflict,  inevitably,  and  thus  began  its  ac- 
tivity in  the  Caucasus,  also,  as  a  revolutionary  and  socialistic 
organization.  At  the  convention  of  the  party  which  convened 
in  Vienna  in  1907,  their  tactics  were  approved  and  adopted 
as  a  direct  result  of  the  severe  persecutions  to  which  the  Ar- 
menians in  the  Caucasus  were  subjected. 

The  October  constitution,  drawing  a  veil  over  the  past, 
officially  recognized  this  situation.  The  government  not  only 
failed  to  persecute  the  Dashnaktsoutun  and  other  political  or- 
ganizations, but  permitted  them  to  come  forward  and  be  rec- 
ognized politically  in  the  country. 

Thus,  in  1905,  during  the  conflicts  between  the  Armen- 
ians and  the  Tartars,  the  supreme  authority  itself  distributed 
arms  through  the  police-commissioner,  Tsis,  to  the  Dashnakt- 
soutun and  to  social  democrats  to  defend  Tiflis,  where  the  vic- 
eroy sits,  against  the  invasions  of  Tartars. 

In  1906,  when  the  representatives  of  Tartars  and  Ar- 
menians convened  at  the  palace  of  the  viceroy,  Vorontsov- 
Dashkov,  under  the  chairmanship  of  General  Malhama,  the 
representatives  of  the  Dashnaktsoutun  were  invited  to  the  of- 
ficial convention. 

Beginning  from  1905,  in  the  election  of  the  Duma  in  the 
Caucasus,  the  Dashnaktsoutun  came  forward  as  a  separate 
body,  the  government  recognized  officially  their  electioneering 
campaign,  and  those  elected  were  recognized  in  the  Duma  as 
the  representatives  of  the  Dashnaktsoutun  and  now  they  form 
a  special  faction  in  the  Ottoman  Parliament. 

From  the  same  year,  1905,  onwards  all  over  the  Caucasus, 
in  almost  all  its  districts,  the  governors,  governors-in-chief,  as 
well  as  the  police  officials  have  often  entered  into  official  rela- 
tions with  members  and  the  governing  bodies  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  have  requested  its  assistance  and  advice. 

Thus  it  remained  from  1905  to  1908,  after  which  the 
attitude  of  the  government  changed.  They  began  to  perse- 
cute the  Armenian  organization  not  only  from  1908  onward, 
but  went  back  to  years  past,  beginning  with  1903,  and  even 
further  back  than  that,  having  forgotten  that  in  the  past  the 
same  government  had  itself,  on  many  occasions  both  officially 
and  unofficially  in  the  life  of  the  State,  recognized  the  activity 
of  the  Dashnaktsoutun  and  its  right  of  existence. 


42 

There  is,  however,  a  more  important  point. 

There  is  a  secret  which  the  government  of  the  Tsar  wishes 
to  conceal  forever  in  its  chambers,  but  which  must  be  brought 
out  for  the  sake  of  those  innocent  people  who  suffer  in  the 
prisons. 

It  was  in  March,  1908,  that  a  rumor  was  circulated  of  a 
probable  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey  with  Bulgaria's  par- 
ticipation. Bulgaria  would  attack  Turkey  from  Macedonia, 
while  the  Russian  soldiers  would  capture  the  village  of  Erzroum 
in  Asia  Minor.  The  government  at  St.  Petersburg  began 
sending  ammunition  to  the  frontier,  and  centralized  forces  near 

Kars. 

In  this  important  moment  it  was  the  desire  of  St.  Peters- 
burg to  ascertain  what  would  be  the  attitude  of  the  Armeni- 
ans of  the  Caucasus.  For  this  purpose  special  military  offi- 
cers were  sent  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  Caucasus,  by  the 
military  authorities,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Minister  for  For- 
eign Affairs.  The  mission  of  these  emissaries  was  to  enter 
into  relation  with  the  governing  bodies,  and  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Dashnaktsoutun,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  attitude 
of  the  Armenian  Revolutionary  Federation  in  case  of  war. 

To  fulfil  this  important  mission  the  military  and  civil  rep- 
resentatives of  St.  Petersburg  made  overtures  in  a  very  cour- 
teous manner  and  did  not  forget  to  be  very  lavish  in  their 
sympathy  and  appreciation  and  respect  for  the  Armenian 
people  and  for  their  organizations.  The  Dashnaktsoutun  re- 
plied that  its  attitude  would  largely  depend  as  to  how  the 
political  question  of  the  Armenians  should  end  in  Turkey. 
Fortunately,  war  was  avoided  by  outside  pressure,  and  the 
negotiations  came  to  an  end. 

Now,  the  question  arises:  By  what  logic  does  the  gov- 
ernment which  in  the  beginning  of  1908  was  in  amicable  nego- 
tiation with  Dashnaktsoutun  suddenly  turns  towards  the  end 
of  the  same  year  and  begins  an  unutterable  and  unnatural  per- 
secution, not  only  for  deeds  committed  during  1908,  but  also 
for  deeds  supposed  to  have  been  committed  from  eight  to  ten 
years  prior  to  the  negotiations. 

It  is  a  curious  and  rapid  change  even  for  monarchical 
tactics.     It  is  a  mean  political  conspiracy,  the  bitter  fruits  of 


43 

which  are  enjoyed  today  by  the  deluded  Armenian  people.  And 
how  serious  is  the  contrast  of  facts. 

The  government  which  in  1904  returned  the  confiscated 
property  of  the  churches,  actually  confessed  the  justice  of  the 
demands  of  the  Armenians.  But  in  1908  it  imprisoned  innocent 
men  with  the  accusation  that  they  had  supported  the  cause  of 
the  Church. 

In  1906  the  government,  itself,  distributed  arms  to  the 
Armenian  organization  to  defend  Tiflis.  In  1908  the  same 
men,  and  many  others,  who  belong  to  the  Dashnaktsoutun, 
were  arrested  as  authors  of  illegal  and  guilty  actions. 

In  1906  was  held  the  Central  Convention  of  the  Armeni- 
ans, with  the  permission  of  the  Catholicos  of  the  Armenians, 
and  with  the  knowledge  of  the  police.  But  those  who  partici- 
pated in  that  convention  are  pursued  as  dangerous  socialists 
and  revolutionists  in  1908. 

In  the  beginning  of  1908  the  government  had  entered 
into  secret  negotiations  with  the  party  for  very  important  and 
secret  affairs  of  the  State,  while  toward  the  end  of  the  same 
year  those  who  belonged  and  even  many  who  did  not  belong 
to  the  same  party  are  put  in  chains  as  dangerous  terrorists 
and  political  agitators,  deserving  the  gallows  and  exile. 

The  government  which  negotiated  with  the  socialist  or- 
ganization and  the  representatives  who  sat  face  to  face  with 
the  delegates  of  the  same  party  in  the  Duma  in  the  beginning 
of  1908,  toward  the  end  of  1908  undertook  an  unprecedented 
persecution  against  the  Dashnaktsoutun,  for  the  reason  that 
it  was  preaching  socialism  and  that  in  the  days  of  affliction  it 
stood  by  the  people,  in  their  defense,  resorting  even  to  "ter- 
rorism," which  was  necessitated  by  the  bloody  and  stern  real- 
ities. 

So  it  was  that  in  the  wild  outburst  in  191  o,  youths  barely 
eighteen  and  nineteen  years  old  today,  were  accused  of  com- 
mitting terrors  in  1 903-1 904,  when  they  were  mere  lads  of 
thirteen  and  fourteen,  playing  and  catching  ball,  like  school- 
boys. 

This  criminal  deceit,  practiced  for  years,  and  the  present 
persecution,  following  the  policy  of  deceit,  is  an  indelible  stain 
on  the  record  of  even  a  monarchical  government,  a  black  stain 


44 

which  should  be  washed  out,  not  by  the  blood  of  the  perse- 
cuted and  innocent  victims,  but  by  the  blood  of  those  who  are 
the  authors  of  the  criminal  policy. 


The  great  task  of  rehabilitation  is  left  to  the  Russian 
court,  which,  defective  and  police-bound  as  it  is,  is  called  upon 
to  uphold  the  torch  of  justice  and  become  the  shelter  of  the 
innocent. 

The  court! 

This  is  what  in  three  years  of  protest,  in  tears,  in  silence, 
and  in  vain  appeal,  has  been  the  constant  demand  of  the  Ar- 
menians behind  the  locked  doors,  and  the  Armenians  in  the 
Caucasus  and  throughout  the  world. 

There  is  no  court,  because  the  heroes  of  the  sad  tragedy 
know  by  sad  experience  that  in  the  court  proofs  are  required — 
proofs  which  can  stand  the  inquisition  of  the  law. 

For  this  reason  they  are  postponing  the  trial  in  order  .that 
in  the  prison  cells  they  may  smother  the  consciences  of  the 
revolters,  and  terrify  the  whole  Armenian  people,  hoping  thus 
to  quench  the  last  breath,  which  has  incurred  the  hatred  of 
Russian  despotism,  from  Finland  to  the  land  of  Ararat. 

For  this  same  reason  the  government  police  is  endeavor- 
ing to  conduct  the  trial  behind  closed  doors,  through  which  the 
watchful  eyes  of  the  people  and  especially  those  of  foreign 
nations,  cannot  penetrate  and  disclose  the  terrible  proofs  of 
disturbing  justice. 

Will  they  succeed? 


45 


THE  MONARCHICAL  RUSSIAN 
BUREAUCRACY. 


There  was  a  time  when  the  Trans-Caucasus  was  the  cen- 
ter of  the  Russophile  winds.  All  the  races,  and  all  Christian 
nations  turned  their  eyes  towards  the  Eagle  of  the  North. 

With  an  inexplicable  historic  foolishness,  the  Caucasus — 
"The  Wild  Land" — was  a  place  of  exile  for  the  Russians  in 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  To  the  Caucasus 
were  exiled  all  the  undesirable  military  and  civil  officials,  also 
those  restless  poets — Poushkin,  Lermondov,  to  atone  for  their 
"sins."  And  again  to  the  Caucasus,  in  1863,  were  exiled  all 
the  political  agitators  of  Poland  to  bewail  their  fond  dreams 
of  liberty. 

The  exile,  however,  loved  the  Caucasus  instead  of  hating 
it.  They  say  the  beautiful  country,  with  its  charming  moun- 
tains, the  stupendous  Mount  Massis  with  its  white-crowned 
peak,  the  proud  Kasbek,  the  penitentiary  of  invincible  Prome- 
theus, who  stole  from  Heaven  the  fire  of  freedom.  They  saw 
the  ever-smiling  Gour,  they  saw  Araxes,  with  its  sad  mem- 
ories! and  they  saw  the  land  of  the  nightingale  and  the  rose 
and  they  liked  it. 

They  saw,  also,  the  people  of  various  tribes  and  languages, 
who  were  full  of  love  toward  the  "White  Tzar,"  and  trusting 
in  the  northerners,  even  in  the  Christian  Cossacks.  The  exiles 
enjoyed  everywhere,  in  the  cities  and  villages,  love,  respect, 
and  unreserved  friendship.  No  wedding  in  the  distant  village, 
no  ceremony  of  baptism  in  the  city,  no  gathering  whatsoever, 
without  a  blessing  and  cheering  for  the  Tzar.  The  aged  priest 
raising  the  first  cup  would  pronounce  the  following  words  in 
fervent  faith :  "May  God  keep  firm  the  throne  of  the  Russian 
King!" 

But  now? 

All  is  hatred,  scorn  and  vengeance.  Hatred  toward  the 
Russian  Chinovnig,  enmity  toward  the  Russian  officers,  mili- 
tary or  civil,  regrets  for  the  past,  and  revenge  for  the  coming 
days. 


46 

The  chief  reason  for  this  state  of  affairs  is  the  destruc- 
tive spirit  of  the  bureaucracy  of  the  Tzar.  Its  unrestrained 
persecution  of  what  is  not  Russian  but  local,  a  spirit  which  is 
as  narrow  as  the  mind  of  a  Cossack,  rude  as  a  soldier  and 
irritating  as  a  master  itself — a  spirit  of  incarnate  prejudice 
and  partiality,  of  contempt  for  local  languages,  enmity  toward 
their  letters,  hatred  of  other  nationalities  and  insult  to  other 
religions. 

In  addition  to  this  the  Chinovnig,  great  or  small,  is  bribed 
and  is  lazy,  wanton  and  wicked ;  unacquainted  with  the  country, 
he  is  to  govern  and  therefore  he  cannot  but  inspire  hatred 
toward  what  is  Russian,  and  everything  concerned  with  its 
government. 

The  past  history  of  the  Russian  dominion  revealed  a  bitter 
truth.  The  Russian  was  strong  and  charming  as  a  military 
force. 

Situated  on  the  border  of  two  Mohammedan  countries, 
enslaved  and  oppressed  under  the  tyranny  of  the  Shahs  and 
the  Sultans,  the  Armenians  and  the  Georgians  were  both  as- 
piring to  come  under  the  domain  of  Christian  Russia,  under 
whose  sovereignty  they  thought  they  would  enjoy  political 
peace  and  rest.  And  it  is  not  a  secret  that  it  was  the  Georgians 
of  the  Caucasus  who,  with  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  the 
Armenians,  paved  the  road  of  the  Russian  domination  toward 
the  valleys  of  Gour  and  Araxes.  In  Tiflis,  on  the  "Temple  of 
Glory,''  which  stands  in  the  center  of  the  city,  and  which  is 
the  museum  of  the  Russian  Military  Victory,  the  following 
words  are  inscribed  from  the  edict  of  Alexander  I,  addressed 
to  Georgia  in  1801 : 

"It  is  neither  for  our  own  interest,  nor  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  limits  of  our  domain,  that  we  undertake  the 
hard  task  of  controlling  the  Georgian  Kingdom.  It  is 
humanity  and  kindness  that  obliges  us  to  listen  to  the 
supplication  of  the  suffering  people,  and  establish  in 
Georgia  a  just  government." 

And  in  the  first  period,  which  was  the  military  period,  the 
Russian  government  was  attractive,  the  Russian  soldier  was 
liked.  Military  authorities,  either  to  gain  a  firm  foothold  in 
the  newly  subjugated  country,  or,  perhaps,  sincerely  respect- 


47 

ing  the  native  people  of  the  country,  its  life  and  its  customs, 
were  trusted  implicitly.  The  central  government  also,  did  not 
miss  any  opportunity  to  bring  in  close  relation  the  remote 
regions  and  the  center  of  its  domain. 

Alexander  I  went  personally  to  Etchmiadsin,  the  relig- 
ious center  of  the  Armenians,  to  pay  an  official  visit.  There 
existed  a  close  intimacy  in  Tiflis  between  the  Georgian  aristoc- 
racy and  the  royal  family.  The  Armenian  Catholicos  and  the 
Viceroy  of  the  Caucasus  were  often  most  friendly,  for  in- 
stance: Nerses  and  Voronstovo.  The  Catholicos  Nerses  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Armenian  volunteers,  fought  against  Per- 
sia in  1827  to  extend  the  Russian  dominion  as  far  as  old 
Nakhitchevan  and  Araxes. 

The  Georgians  gave  to  the  Russian  army  brilliant  gener- 
als, whose  efforts  helped  greatly  in  the  capture  of  the  Oriental 
Caucasus.  And  from  the  Armenians  sprang  forth  famous 
military  men:  Lois-Melikoff,  Lazarian,  Der-Ghoukasian  and 
Shekovnikoff  who  fought  against  Turkey  in  the  war  of  1878 
and  caused  her  defeat. 

But  when  the  second  period  arrived,  the  period  of  so- 
called  peaceful  advancement,  the  period  of  the  Chinoving  was 
ushered  in,  when  everything  was  undone.  The  bureaucracy 
subverted  what  the  military  authorities  had  built  up.  The 
Chinovnig  is  incapable  of  creation,  and  government;  he  can 
only  command,  Russianize,  and  open  an  impassable  chasm  be- 
tween the  various  elements.  Not  only  the  sword  but  even  the 
law  became  a  cause  of  estrangement.  The  court,  the  capitol, 
the  police-station,  were  reduced  to  places  of  deceit,  bribery,  and 
horror.  The  people  were  looked  down  upon  and  began  to  fear, 
to  detest,  and  hate,  and  finally  to  retire. 

Add  to  this  the  anti-national,  and  anti-demotratic  spirit 
which  is  the  core  and  marrow  of  the  Russian  bureaucracy.  In 
Poland  they  hate  the  Poles;  in  Finland  they  are  enemies 
of  the  Finns,  in  the  Caucasus  they  cannot  endure  the  sight  of 
Armenians,  and  it  is  this  policy,  systematically  pursued,  which 
has  created  what  we  witness  now, — enmity  instead  of  friend- 
ship, hatred  instead  of  sympathy. 

A  brief  comparison. 

In  the  old  period  Voronstov  was  intrusted  with  the  duty 
of   attracting  the   local   elements,   while   in  the   new   period 


48 

Golitzin  was  commissioned  to  suppress  the  local  nationalities. 
Voronstov  opened  schools.  Golitzin  closed  260  Armenian 
schools  in  one  year. 

In  the  past  the  government  was  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween native  races.    Now  it  is  a  disrupting  poison. 

Once  officials  came  from  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow 
to  establish  rule  and  order,  now  come  thousands  of  spies  to  fill 
the  dungeons  with  prisoners. 

Once  Armenian  and  Georgian  volunteers  were  the  flower 
of  the  army  and  were  assigned  the  chief  place  during  official 
receptions,  now  the  police  push  the  people  aside,  using  whips, 
during  the  receptions  of  the  Governors-in-Chief.  There  was  a 
time  when  all  Tiflis  rose  to  receive  the  Exarch,  the  head,  of  the 
Orthodox  Church,  while  in  1808  the  Exarch  was  assassinated 
and  none  but  the  officials  and  the  police  were  present  at  his 
funeral  procession. 

In  the  olden  times  men  used  to  run  to  the  police  and  to 
the  gendarmerie,  while  in  danger,  but  now  they  flee  away  from 
them,  as  from  a  pestilence. 

Up  to  1870  Russia  was  a  land  of  learning  and  advance- 
ment but  now  it  is  a  barrier  against,  advancement. 

Once  the  government  was  a  welcome  guest.    But  now  ? 

An  aged  Armenian  officer,  whose  grandfather  was  for- 
merly in  the  Russian  army  and  present  at  the  capture  of 
Garabag,  said  on  his  death-bed : 

"I  do  not  wish  to  die  before  I  see  the  Russians  exit  from 
the  Caucasus.     Then  only  can  I  rest." 

The  forefathers  invited  and  welcomed  the  Russians! 

Their  grandsons  would  rejoice  at  their  absence. 

This  is  the  fruit  of  the  despotic  and  destructive  regime. 
It  made  the  Russians  miserable  in  their  own  land — that  ocean 
of  grief  and  oppression;  and  it  spreads  poison  and  hatred 
among  foreign  peoples,  everywhere  wherever  reaches  the 
breath  of  the  tyrannical  regime. 


49 

A  VOICE  OF  PROTEST. 


What  tears  around  the  prisons!  What  sobs  and  sighs 
along  the  roads  of  exile!  What  bitter  supplications  near  the 
walls  of  police  stations!  and  endless  hours  of  waiting  at  the 
doors  of  the  investigator. 

The  police  and  the  investigator! 

Each  are  Tzars,  in  their  circles  of  influence,  silent  when 
they  should  answer,  roaring  and  raging  when  they  should  be 
silent. 

The  same  scene  everywhere.  Wives,  sisters,  brothers, 
sons,  who  have  come  from  who  knows  from  what  state  nor 
in  how  many  days  and  with  what  bereavement  and  suffering. 
One  desires  to  see  a  prisoner  who  is  sick,  wishes  to  give  him 
some  money,  clothing,  or  some  food, — he  is  refused!  He 
wants  to  exchange  a  few  words  of  comfort  with  the  prisoner 
in  regard  to  his  condition,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  police, — 
he  is  refused ! 

Each  and  all  of  them  are  beseeching  to  see  the  investiga- 
tor, to  ask  him  a  few  questions,  to  get  some  information  about 
their  friends.     His  answer  is:  "Impossible!  apply  in  writing.'' 

They  apply  in  writing  and  wait  for  days,  weeks,  nay 
months,  but  get  no  answer.  The  little  Tzar,  surrounded  by 
his  group  of  spies,  is  cruel,  proud,  and  arrogant.  He  is  proud 
of  the  fact  that  instead  of  his  going  where  the  prisoners  are 
he  orders  several  hundred  prisoners  brought  on  a  four  or  five 
days'  journey  to  the  "foot  of  his  throne ;"  from  the  Caucasus 
to  Rostove,  and  Novotcherkask,  with  their  relatives  and  friends 
who,  perhaps,  have  no  money  for  travel,  no  means  of  living, 
and  have  left  their  children  in  poverty. 

Let  them  wait  and  suffer!    Are  they  not  mere  "subjects?" 

Finally,  patience  and  human  endurance  was  at  an  end. 
Complaints,  dissatisfaction  and  righteous  indignation  broke 
out.  The  complaints  reached  the  Duma,  which  though  handi- 
capped, attempts  occasionally  to  raise  its  voice.  There  in  the 
"supreme  legislative  council,"  several  representatives  echoed 
the  general  dissatisfaction.  "It  is  a  misunderstanding,"  they 
said,  "to  imagine  a  whole  body  as  revolutionists  and  to  perse- 
cute them  so  severely." 


50 

The  Armenian  Catholicos  also  interfered.  In  July,  1909, 
when  Izmirlian  went  from  Constantinople  to  St.  Petersburg 
to  present  himself  to  the  Tzar,  he  said  in  his  official  address : 

"If  Your  Excellency  wishes  me  to  influence  and  pacify 
the  minds  of  the  Armenian  people  and  bind  them  to  the 
throne,  when  I  arrive  at  the  Caucasus,  then  please  be  so 
kind  as  to  fulfil  my  request — give  orders  to  release  the 
Armenian  prisoners,  and  in  this  way  you  will  have 
strengthened  me  to  serve  the  State  more  efficiently." 

Nicholas  II,  Emperor  of  Russia,  by  the  mercy  of  God, 
interrupted  and  said : 

"They  will  be  released  before  your  Holiness  arrives  at 
the  Caucasus." 

The  Catholicos  went  to  the  Caucasus,  moving  from  city 
to  city,  proud  of  the  imperial  promise  given  him,  but  found 
not  only  that  the  prisoners  were  not  released  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, their  number  increased. 

Supplications  and  protest  are  not  even  heard  in  the  do- 
main of  the  Tzar.  It  is  therefore  natural  and  the  time  has 
arrived  that  protest  and  complaints  should  find  an  echo 
outside  and  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Russia,  in  order  to  show 
to  the  world  at  least  a  glimpse  of  the  tragic  scenes  enacted  in 
the  prison  of  the  Autocrat,  in  whose  dominion  there  is  a  Duma 
but  no  constitution,  books  of  statute  laws  but  no  justice. 

Protest. 

Protest,  and  Sympathy! 

That  is  the  demand  of  the  sufTering  Orient.  The  just  de- 
mand of  the  warriors  of  liberty :  Russian,  Polish,  Armenian, 
Finn,  Jew  and  Georgian,  who  under  chains  or  on  the  gallows 
have  but  one  comfort, — the  encouraging  word  from  every 
tongue  which  hates  tyranny;  from  every  land  where  the  torch 
of  liberty  is  shining. 

And  that  protest  should  be  as  great  as  the  sufTering,  as 
immense  as  the  oppression,  and  as  international  as  the  perse- 
cution. The  sufferers  do  not  belong  to  one  nation,  nor  should 
the  protests  be  confined  to  one  nation  either. 

The  protest  should  not  be  partial  but  general,  from  the 
land  of  oppression  to  the  remotest  regions  of  Europe,   and 


5i 

across  the  great  ocean  to  America,  to  the  very  borders  of 
the  Great  Republic,  everywhere,  in  every  country  where  on 
the  ruins  of  slavery  the  flag  of  civilization  now  flies. 

Every  man  who  has  a  mind,  every  citizen  who  has  a 
conscience,  every  being  who  has  a  heart,  should  open  his  mouth 
in  protest,  move  his  tongue  in  sympathy,  stretch  his  hand  to 
help, — this  is  the  duty  of  humanity! 

The  suffering  men  and  races  in  our  times  belong  not 
only  to  their  race  and  community  but  to  the  whole  mankind; 
and  the  bodies  of  men,  trampled  down  by  tyranny,  are  not 
only  a  disgrace  to  that  country,  but  to  the  entire  world. 

"The  time  has  arrived" — says  the  California  Legisla- 
ture, in  its  resolution  of  March  21,  "in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  for  every  civilized  nation  to  protest  against  such 
conduct  on  the  part  of  any  nation,  and  we  do  hereby  ex- 
press our  abhorrence  of  the  treatment  accorded  these 
men  of  Armenia  because  of  their  political  convictions." 
.  .  .  "The  time  has  arrived  when  there  should  be  a  con- 
certed action  between  all  nations  that  lay  claim  to  civi- 
lization and  enlightment  to  compel  the  observance  on  the 
part  of  any  nation  of  the  laws  of  humanity  and  common 
justice  towards  its  citizens.*   ..." 

The  protest  broke  out,  despite  the  endeavors  and  the 
obstacles  of  the  agents  of  the  Tzar.  It  was  in  Vienna  that 
the  socialist  party  gave  the  first  signal  of  indignation.  Another 
day  in  Constantinople — yesterday's  fortress  of  tyranny — 
Armenians,  Turks,  Bulgarians,  joined  hands  to  brand  the 
brow  of  tyranny.  Another  day,  in  Paris,  the  adorable  cradle 
of  international  revolution,  the  best  minds  united  to  defend 
the  persecuted  justice,  and,  lately,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
in  fifteen  cities  of  the  great  Republic  of  America,  where  from 
San  Francisco  to  New  York,  large  mass-meetings  were  held 
where  resolutions  were  passed  expressing  sympathy  for  the 
sufferers  and  contempt  for  the  ghouls  who  under  the  name  of 
law  and  religion  are  spreading  crime  over  that  unfortunate 
part  of  the  globe  which  forms  the  property  of  the  Tzar. 

Let  us  unite  all  the  voices  of  protest  as  the  drops  of 
water  which  form  the  mighty  ocean :  and  in  that  union  let  us 


*See  the  Appendix. 


52 

create  a  strong  and  vigorous  wave  of  sympathy  and  protest 
to  surge  over  and  cool  the  innocent  victims  of  all  nations, 
giving  them  new  strength  and  heart,  to  endure,  and  to  hope, 
and  to  love  the  great  ideals  of  liberty  even  in  the  prison  where 
though  there  is  no  sun  yet  there  is  dream,  where  the  cell  is 
small  but  the  heart  large,  the  body  weak  but  the  soul  strong. 

In  the  expression  of  international  sympathy  the  warriors 
of  all  lands  find  encouragement. 

In  the  expression  of  international  contempt  the  tyrants 
of  all  lands  find  the  death-poison. 


This  is  merely  a  page,  a  little  portion  of  the  terrible 
political  sufferings,  just  as  widespread  as  the  Russian  domain 
itself,  endless  as  the  surging  billows  of  mournful  Volga. 

"We  die  with  satisfied  conscience  and  without  regret," 
uttered  that  Russian  volunteer  for  liberty  from  the  scaffold, 
"with  this  firm  belief  that  after  us  will  come  others,  braver 
than  we,  greater  than  their  predecessors,  until  the  wave  of 
freedom,  fierce  and  ruthless,  uproots  and  overthrows  that 
bloody  tyranny  which  is  the  curse  of  entire  Russia  and  the 
shame  of  all  humanity." 

They  came  by  the  hundred. 

Will  come  by  the  thousand. 

This  awful  suffering  is  the  agony  of  the  unbridled  ty- 
ranny, the  portender  of  the  coming  Great  Day. 

Take  courage  warriors, — that  day  is  at  hand. 

And  you,  friends  of  liberty,  strengthen  the  protest, — the 
victory  is  certain! 


APPENDIX. 


54 


RESOLUTIONS. 

In  thirty-five  cities  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  there 
took  place  mass-meetings  for  the  benefit  of  the  prisoners  of 
Caucasus.  In  fourteen  cities,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  Boston,  Providence,  Worcester,  Troy,  West  Ho- 
boken,  New  Haven,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Fresno;  and 
Brendford  and  Hamilton,  Canada;  resolutions  of  protestation 
were  drawn  up  by  votes  and  sent  to  Washington,  to  the 
President  of  the  Republic,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  and  to  some  of  the  foreign  ambassadors 
there,  especially  to  that  of  Russia.*  Copies  of  the  resolutions 
were  published  in  the  papers. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  resolutions: 


New  York: 

At  a  mass  meeting  held  by  the  Armenian  residents  at  Carnegie 
Lyceum,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on  February  5,  191 1,  the  following 
preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted : 

1.  Whereas,  for  two  years,  more  than  five  hundred  Armenians, — 
professors,  authors,  physicians,  lawyers,  merchants,  artisans  and  peas- 
ants— are  subjected  to  unspeakable  incarceration  in  Russia; 

2.  Whereas,  ten  or  fifteen  are  imprisoned  in  damp  and  cold  cells 
without  bread  or  food ; 

3.  Whereas,  this  indescribable  condition  still  continues,  and  their 
trial  is  postponed  arbitrarily ; 

4.  Whereas,  the  Russian  Government  tries  to  punish  innocent  people 
for  crimes  that  have  never  been  committed  by  the  accused; 

1.  Resolved,  that  we,  the  Armenian  citizens  of  this  Great  Republic, 
protest  against  the  inhuman  attitude  of  the  Russian  Government,  and 
demand  an  immediate  and  just  trial  of  the  innocent  victims; 

2.  Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  the 
Government  at  Washington  and  request  it  to  please  interfere  in  behalf 
of  these  innocent  victims  as  it  sees  proper; 

3.  Resolved,  that  copies  of  these  same  resolutions  be  sent  to  the 
foreign  representatives  at  Washington,  and  to  the  American  press,  re- 
questing all  of  them  to  raise  their  voices  in  behalf  of  justice  and  in 
behalf  of  the  political  rights  of  the  unjustly  prosecuted  Armenians  in 
the  Caucasus,  Russia. 


*The  Russian  embassy,  with  strange  apprehensions,  twice  replied 
that  it  was  not  able  to  receive  these  resolutions  or  do  anything  with 
them.    This  is  the  way  they  do  things  in  Russia. 


55 
Philadelphia: 

In  a  meeting  of  Armenians,  held  on  February  12,  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  where  speeches  were  given  in  behalf  of  the  political  prisoners  in 
Caucasus,  the  following  preambles  and  resolutions  were  passed. 

Whereas,  the  500  prisoners  are  merely  the  victims  of  the  premedi- 
tated and  unjust  policy  of  the  Russian  Government ; 

Whereas,  the  prisoners  are  subjected  to  unbearable  conditions,  des- 
titute of  food,  clothing  and  external  relation ; 

Be  It  Resolved, 

1.  To  protest  against  the  anti-Armenian  and  unjust  persecution  of 
the  Russian  government, 

2.  To  demand  immediate  trial  of  the  prisoners,  free  from  gendarme 
oppression. 

3.  To  send  copies  of  this  protest  to  the  government  at  Washington 
as  well  as  to  the  ambassadors  of  other  governments. 

On  the  same  occasion  the  meeting  also  appeals  to  the  American 
public  opinion  and  press,  asking  them  to  raise  their  voice  in  defense 
of  this  just   cause. 


Boston: 

A  public  mass  meeting  was  held  on  the  evening  of  January  8,  191 1, 
at  Paine  Memorial  Hall,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  where  a  thousand  or 
more  Armenians  passed  resolutions  protesting  against  the  unjust  im- 
prisonment of  five  hundred  or  more  of  their  leading  countrymen  in  the 
Russian  prisons. 

The  meeting  was  presided  over  by  Dr.  V.  H.  Kazanjian,  and  speeches 
were  made  by  several  distinguished  gentlemen,  including  Honorable 
E.  Aknouni,  of  Constantinople. 

A  large  collection  was  made  for  the  benefit  of  said  prisoners, 
and  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted,  viz. : 

Whereas  :  The  present  Russian  government  has  deliberately  com- 
menced a  general  prosecution  against  the  Armenian  people  of  the  Cau- 
casus, and 

Whereas  :  Five  hundred  Armenian  men,  men  of  letters,  scientists, 
merchants  and  others  are  the  victims  of  the  above  mentioned  prosecu- 
tion, without  any  legal  or  moral  justification,  be  it 

Resolved:  To  protest  against  this  policy  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment, which  is  contrary  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  as 
well  as  to  the  dictates  of  civilization,  and  be  it  further 

Resolved:  To  demand  an  immediate  trial  before  a  just  tribunal 
and  to  establish  their  rights  as  loyal  citizens,  and  it  is  further 

Resolved  :  To  send  copies  of  these  resolutions  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  United  States,  at  Washington,  and  to  the  Russian  Am- 
bassador at  Washington,  as  well  as  to  all  other  representatives  of  foreign 
powers,  and  be  it  further 


56 

Resolved:  To  appeal  to  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  and 
to  arouse  a  sympathetic  movement  in  behalf  of  these  Armenian  pris- 
oners, whose  sole  demand  in  the  Caucasus  is  the  right  to  enjoy  the 
privileges  of  the  constitution  and  those  other  rights  which  belong  to 
every  civilized  community. 

San  Francisco: 

Whereas,  it  has  been  made  to  appear  to  the  undersigned  organiza- 
tions, citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  by  representation  of  Hon.  E.  Aknouni,  the 
Armenian  writer  from  Constantinople  and  other  evidence  to  us  sub- 
mitted by  Armenian  citizens  of  the  United  States,  residing  in  said  city 
and  county  of  San  Francisco,  that  about  260  Armenians  of  education, 
rank  and  standing,  are  imprisoned  in  Novo  Cherkask,  in  the  monarchy 
of  Russia,  for  political  causes,  and  have  so  remained  in  prison  for  long 
periods  without  any  preliminary  hearing  or  other  opportunity  to  pre- 
sent their  cases  to  any  court  of  justice,  which  imprisonment  is  revolt- 
ing to  the  sense  of  justice  in  any  country; 

And  Whereas,  said  Armenian  citizens  have  by  resolution  duly  pro- 
tested against  such  imprisonment ; 

Now,  Therefore,  we,  the  undersigned,  hereby  protest  against  such 
imprisonment  and  ask  our  representatives  in  Congress  to  use  all  lawful 
and  honorable  means  within  their  power  to  bring  this  condition  of 
affairs  to  the  attention  of  the  government  of  Russia  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  lead  to  immediate  hearing  and  disposition  of  all  these  cases  in 
accordance  with  justice. 

Resolved  further  that  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  each  of 
the  Senators  and  Congressmen  for  the  State  of  California,  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  to  such  other  persons  as  may  tend  to 
bring  about  this  desired  end. 

San  Francisco,  California., 
January  17,  1911. 

Providence: 

At  a  public  mass  meeting  held  on  the  evening  of  December  25,  1910, 
in  Fay's  Hall,  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  more  than  a  thousand  Ar- 
menians gathered  to  protest  against  the  inhuman  treatment  of  five  hun- 
dred or  more  of  their  countrymen  in  the  hands  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment. 

The  meeting  was  presided  over  by  Mr.  T.  Gelalian  and  speeches 
were  made  by  a  number  of  leading  Armenians,  including  the  Honor- 
able   E.    Aknouni    of    Constantinople.      The    following    resolutions    were 

adopted : 

Whereas:  The  present  Russian  government,  with  deliberate  and 
premeditated  policy  has  begun  a  general  prosecution  against  the  Ar- 
menian people  of  the  Caucasus,  and 


57 

Whereas  :  Five  hundred  Armenian  prisoners  belonging  to  almost 
every  class,  teachers,  physicians,  scientists,  men  of  letters,  merchants 
and  others,  are  the  victims  of  the  above  mentioned  prosecutions  without 
any  legal  basis  and  without  trial,  be  it 

Resolved  : 

ist.  To  protest  against  this  policy  of  the  Russian  government,  which 
policy  is  an  insult  to  the  constitution,  as  well  as  to  the  idea  of  civiliza- 
tion; 

2nd.  To  demand  immediate  trial  and  the  discharge  of  these  pris- 
oners, and  the  recognition  of  all  of  their  rights  as  loyal  citizens; 

3rd.  To  send  copies  of  these  resolutions  to  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, al  Washington  and  to  the  Russian  Ambassador,  at  Washington, 
D.  C. 

4th.  To  appeal  to  public  opinion  of  this  country  and  to  arouse  a 
sympathetic  movement  in  behalf  of  these  Armenian  prisoners,  who  have 
no  other  demands  or  desires  in  the  Caucasus,  except  to  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges of  the  constitution  and  those  rights  which  belong  to  every  civilized 
community. 

Worcester: 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  January,  191 1,  the  Armenians  of  Worcester, 
Massachusetts,  having  gathered  in  Eagle's  Hall  for  the  purpose  of 
signifying  their  sympathy  and  aiding  financially  the  five  hundred  or 
more  Armenian  political  prisoners  in  Russia,  passed  the  following  reso- 
lutions : 

Whereas,  the  five  hundred  Armenians  who  are  imprisoned  in  Russia 
represent  politically  as  well  as  intellectually  the  best  among  the  Ar- 
menians of  this  generation; 

Whereas,  these  men  have  been  subjected  for  the  last  two  years 
to  untold  sufferings  in  the  hideous  prisons  of  Russia  without  a  trial 
and  without  a  legal  cause ; 

Be  It  Resolved  : 

1.  To  protest  against  the  Russian  government  for  its  premeditated 
policy  of  prosecuting  our  intellectual  leaders. 

2.  To  demand  an  immediate  trial  for  these  men  and  the  recognition 
of  their  legal  rights  as  citizens. 

3.  To  send  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  United  States  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs  and  to  the  Russian  Ambassador  at  Washington, 
and  to  arouse  public  sentiment  and  sympathy  in  behalf  of  these  un- 
fortunate prisoners. 

Troy: 

A  public  meeting  was  held  on  January  22,  191 1,  in  Proctor's  Theatre 
by  the  Armenians  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  The  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to 
arouse  public  sentiment  and  sympathy  in  behalf  of  the  five  hundred  or 
more  Armenian  political  prisoners  in  Russia  who  are  considered  as  the 
foremost  exponents  of  Armenian  art,  literature  and  science. 


58 

The  following  resolutions  were  passed  : 

Whereas,  the  Russian  government  has  commenced  a  policy  of  prose- 
cution against  the  Armenians  in  the  Caucasus ; 

Whereas,  this  prosecution  of  the  Armenians  in  the  Caucasus  is 
not  only  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  constitution  but  also  an 
insult  to  the  whole  Armenian  race ; 

Be  It  Resolved: 

1.  To  protest  against  the  Russian  government  for  this  unjust  im- 
prisonment and  demand  through  proper  channels  an  immediate  and  fair 
trial  before  a  tribunal  which  is  not  only  competent,  but  free  from  mili- 
tary despotism. 

2.  To  send  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  United  States  govern- 
ment at  Washington,  asking  its  aid  and  influence  in  co-operating  with 
us  in  this  work. 

3.  To  call  on  the  American  public  and  to  arouse  public  opinion 
and  sympathy  against  the  unjust  imprisonment  of  these  men. 

West  Hoboken: 

At  a  great  mass  meeting  held  on  February  5,  191 1,  by  the  Ar- 
menians at  the  Liberty  Hall  of  West  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  the  following  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously: 

Whereas,  our  compatriots  in  Russia  are  subjected  to  cruel  perse- 
cutions, and  five  hundred  of  them,  for  two  years,  are  tortured  in  the 
prisons  of  Rostov,  Novochirgasoff ,  and  other  cities ; 

Whereas,  the  innocent  are  arrested  without  any  cause;  and,  not- 
withstanding their  demands,  are  not  still  tried; 

Whereas,  these  arrests  by  groups  are  the  result  of  the  policy  of 
the  Russian  government,  which  ignores  all  the  elemental  rights  of  the 
Armenians  in  Russia;    it  is  therefore 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  Armenian  citizens  of  New  Jersey,  protest 
against  the  injustice  of  the  Russian  government,  and  demand  that  the 
trial  should  be  free  of  police  interference  and  pressure ; 

Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and  resolutions  be  forwarded 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  to  all  embassies  at  Washington, 
requesting  them  to  use  their  good  offices  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners,  and 
be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  a  copy  be  also  sent  to  the  American  press,  and  an 
appeal  be  made  to  the  political  writers  of  this  country  to  exert  their  good 
influence  in  behalf  of  the  five  hundred  unfortunate  Armenian  political 
prisoners  in  Russia. 

California: 

Whereas,  it  has  been  made  known  to  us,  the  executive  officers  of 
the  California  State  Federation  of  Labor,  that  five  hundred  Armenians  of 
education,  rank  and  standing  are  imprisoned  in  Rostov  and  Novocher- 
kaska,  in  the  monarchy  of  Russia,  for  political  causes,  and  have  so  re- 
mained   for   long   periods    of   time   without    any   preliminary    hearing    or 


59 

opportunity  to  present  their  cases  to  any  court  of  justice,  which  im- 
prisonment, without  trial,  is  revolting  to  the  sense  of  justice  of  all  man- 
kind. 

Therefore,  Resolved,  that  we,  in  the  name  of  California  State  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  hereby  protest  against  such  imprisonment  and  request 
the  Hon.  Hiram  W.  Johnson,  Governor  of  the  State  of  California,  and 
the  legislature  of  this  State,  to  take  such  measures  by  way  of  legisla- 
tion or  resolution  as  will  bring  this  condition  of  affairs  most  effectively 
before  the  government  of  the  United  States  with  a  view  of  having  the 
United  States  make  representations  to  the  Russian  government  for  the 
purpose  of  remedying  this  apparent  injustice;  and  further 

Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  each  of  the 
following  named  persons;  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Sena- 
tors and  Congressmen  representing  California,  the  Secretary  of  State, 
the  Governor  of  the  State  of  California,  and  the  senators  and  assembly- 
men.* 

California  State  Federation  of  Labor. 
San  Francisco, 

March  10,  191 1. 


Resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  California. 

(Voted  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  March  21-22,  and  sent  to 
Washington  on  March  27th.) 

Whereas,  the  Russian  government  has  imprisoned  hundreds  of  prom- 
inent Armenians  who  are  teachers,  lawyers  and  editors,  and  all  of  whom 
are  in  the  forefront  of  progressive  thought  and  action,  in  the  prisons  of 
Rostove,  and  other  towns  in  the  monarchy  of  Russia,  and  has  kept  these 
men  confined  for  a  long  period  of  time  without  giving  them  any  prelim- 
inary hearing  or  opportunity  to  present  their  cases  to  any  court,  which  is 
revolting  to  the  sense  of  justice  of  all  mankind ;  and 

Whereas,  the  said  "Russian  government  has  frequently  tolerated  riot, 
pillage,  outrage  and  murder  of  men,  women  and  children  by  reason  of 
their  religious  belief;"  and 

Whereas,  such  acts  are  a  disgrace  to  civilization  and  repugnant  to 
all  people  who  love  justice  and  fear  God;  now,  therefore, 

Be  it  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  Assembly  jointly,  of  the  Thirty-ninth 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  California,  that  we  believe  the  time  has  arrived  in 
the  affairs  of  this  world  when  it  becomes  necessary  for  every  civilized  nation 
to  protest  against  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  any  other  nation,  and  we  do 
hereby  express  our  abhorrence  of  the  treatment  accorded  these  men  of 
Armenia  because  of  their  political  convictions  and  to  other  men,  women 
and  children  because  of  their  religious  belief ;  and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia, the  time  has  arrived  when  there  should  be  a  concert  of  action 


♦Same  resolution  has  been  drawn  up  by  the  Labor  Council  of  San 
Francisco. 


6o 

between  all  nations  that  lay  claim  to  civilization  and  enlightenment,  to 
compel  the  observance  on  the  part  of  any  other  nation  of  the  laws  of 
humanity  and  common  justice  towards  its  citizens;  and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  copies  of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  United  States  Senate  and  to  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  earnestly  urging  them  to  use 
their  good  offices  to  secure  to  the  Armenians  herein  referred  to  a  just  and 
public  trial  without  further  delay. 


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